The DRB-HICOM Group – via its subsidiary, Edaran Otomobil Nasional Berhad (EON) – is venturing into aftersales services with the establishment of a joint venture with Petromin Express, a subsidiary of Saudi Arabia’s Petromin Corporation. Petromin Express is the world’s fifth largest fast-fit service brand and operates in the Middle East, Africa and is looking to new markets in Asia.
The joint-venture company, which will be 51:49 shared between Petromin and EON, is expected to commence pilot operations of the business in January 2023, with 4 outlets during the 18-month pilot run. The pilot will enable management to derive a longer strategic roadmap for the business including capital requirements for expansion.
A Petromin Express service centre in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
Growing sector in auto industry DRB-HICOM’s move into the automotive aftersales market in Malaysia is timely as this is a large and growing area of business, especially with the population of vehicles in use. In 2021, this sector generated revenue of approximately RM42 billion.
Modelled after Petromin’s highly successful Petromin Express outlets in Saudi Arabia, the new company aims to offer Malaysian vehicle owners a unique experience of fast-fit aftersales services with a quick turnaround time.
While the services will be offered to all vehicles, the company will be targeting vehicles aged between 5 and 10 years which no longer have warranties in effect. Such vehicles will no longer be restricted by warranty conditions and can therefore be serviced by any other company.
Kalyana Sundaram Sivagnanam, Petromin’s Group CEO (left) and Akkbar Danial, CEO of EON (right) signing the joint-venture agreement, witnessed by Dato’ Sri Syed Faisal, DRB-HICOM Group Managing Director, Dato’ Sri Syed Faisal Albar.
Complementary new business The collaboration complements DRB-HICOM’s existing and extensive automotive value chain. The group is already involved in automotive manufacturing via Proton, retails several foreign automotive brands under the EON umbrella, and also offers mandatory inspection services via PUSPAKOM.
“Petromin’s collaboration with DRB-HICOM will allow it entry into the lucrative Malaysian aftersales servicing market by partnering with Petromin Express, a well-established and trusted corporate brand in the automotive sector. Their vast know-how and operational expertise, coupled with DRB-HICOM’s market intelligence and extensive customer reach, will create an ideal synergy that will propel this partnership to great heights. At the same time, we are very excited to be offering a new, affordable and convenient service to Malaysians,” said DRB-HICOM Group Managing Director, Dato’ Sri Syed Faisal Albar.
Petromin’s businesses Besides its Petromin Express business with over 700 outlets across Saudi Arabia, Petromin has a substantial lubricants business with products exported to over 35 countries. It also operates operates petrol service stations and distributes Nissan vehicles in the Kingdom.
Commenting on the new partnership, Petromin’s Group CEO, Kalyana Sivagnanam, said: “After decades of transforming the mobility solutions landscape in the Middle East and North Africa region, Petromin is looking forward to helping in transforming and pioneering the aftersales service experience for the discerning customers in Malaysia and around the globe. We are optimistic that this relationship will yield significant impact on the market in the face of game-changing technological, economic, and societal trends.”
Acura, Honda’s premium and performance brand mainly sold in North America, has had a long presence in endurance racing with prototype models. Next year, at the Rolex 24 at Daytona, it will debut an all-new electrified racing car, the ARX-06, the sixth generation of a successful line of Acura endurance racing prototypes.
The ARX-06 has custom bodywork and aerodynamics based around an all-new ORECA LMDh chassis. The chassis carries an electrified hybrid power unit with an equally new, bespoke twin-turbocharged 2.4-litre V6 engine designed, developed and manufactured by Honda Performance Development (HPD), the racing arm for Acura Motorsports in North America.
Smallest combustion engine With its 2.4-litre displacement, the AR24e power unit is the smallest displacement internal combustion engine conceived by HPD for endurance racing. It still meets the performance target of 500 kW as measured at the rear axle by torque meters. It features a 90-degree V-angle to reduce its centre of gravity and polar moment of inertia, and can run on sustainable low-carbon fuel.
The hybrid powerplant includes an IMSA-specified electric Bosch Motor Generator Unit (MGU) and Williams Advanced Engineering battery pack. The MGU is contained in a common transmission casing and gearbox internals provided by Xtrac.
“We’ve taken the challenge presented by this new rule package from IMSA, and developed what we believe is a very competitive solution,” said Pierre Descamps, who led HPD’s powertrain design team for the ARX-06. “We’ve gone in a new direction for HPD in the design of the ICE. It is still a V6, which of course for Honda is well-known, but we have incorporated several new elements which we believe will make best use of the electric MGU and battery pack. Our new engine will rev to the maximum 10,000 rpm set by the rules, so it also makes a wonderful sound!”
Both IMSA in North America and FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) rules require manufacturers to use one of four approved prototype chassis, fitted with IMSA-homologated, manufacturer-designed and branded bodywork and engines.
Continued partnership with ORECA In the case of the ARX-06, HPD and Acura have elected to continue their successful relationship with ORECA. Since moving into chassis design and construction in 2007, ORECA has produced a series of winning sports prototypes, including the Acura ARX-05.
HPD’s Vehicle Performance Group worked closely with the ORECA design team and engineers to simulate chassis layout geometries and lap time optimization studies. They also ‘coded’ the new car into HPD’s static and dynamic Driver in the Loop simulators to begin development of the car’s vehicle dynamics and vehicle dynamic control systems.
Critical to the projects was a clean sheet hybrid powertrain control system, brake-by-wire and vehicle dynamics control system – all written in-house at HPD. This control system architecture was implemented on a Formula 1-spec ECU hardware platform. HPD also utilizes its custom, in-house developed ultra-high speed data-logging system.
Styling by Acura Design Studio The exterior styling of the ARX-06 was led by the Acura Design Studio in Los Angeles, in conjunction with ORECA, which is also one of the chassis suppliers approved for prototype competition in both the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship and the WEC.
Driver and team input was also sought throughout the design process. One effective change was a revision to the placement of the rearview mirrors. This is a seemingly minor adjustment but actually has a large effect on vehicle aerodynamics. Using VR headsets, the drivers were able to sit in the car virtually and recommend a much lower placement for the side mirrors, improving both the aero efficiency of the ARX-06 and visibility for the drivers.
Acura will continue its partnerships with the successful Wayne Taylor Racing and Meyer Shank Racing teams to campaign a pair of ARX-06 entries in the GTP category of the 2023 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.
Until recent years, Korean models have not had a strong presence in the movie world (with the exception of Korean movies and TV series, of course). They have occasionally been seen in some action TV series like ‘24’ and ‘?????????? ????????’ but not in a big way for chase scenes. Most of the time, they have just appeared among the other traffic on the streets.
In the latest Netflix movie, ‘????? ????’ (released recently), you’ll see many Hyundai models in many car chase scenes. Because the movie is set during the 1988 Seoul Olympics, the Korean carmaker supplied Netflix with various retro models from the 1980s. There include the first-generation Grandeur (Azera), a modified Pony pick-up (with its 3-litre engine from the Grandeur), Porter light truck, and some old sedans like the second-generation Sonata, Stellar, and even a Cortina.
Some of the retro models that appear in the movie.In its early years, Hyundai Motor produced a licensed version of the British Ford Cortina, and it appears in the moviebriefly.
Significance of the Grandeur The first-generation Grandeur (which was adapted from the Mitsubishi Debonair) is remembered as a pioneer the premium segment in Korea and was the flagship of the Hyundai brand then. It was admired and desired for its prestige, and this is depicted in the movie.
The original Grandeur which was adapted from the Mitsubishi Debonair and launched in 1986.
The significance of this model in the 1980s inspired the company to create the Hyundai Grandeur Heritage Series as a tribute to the brand’s historic flagship sedan. The restomod, which was unveiled last year, has the classic formal 3-box shape with modern and futuristic elements added. These include the Parametric Pixel lighting that is used in the latest models like the IONIQ 5.
‘Seoul Vibe’ has an all-star Korean cast that includes Ah-in Yoo, Kyung-pyo Go, Kyoo-hyung Lee, Ju-hyun Park, Seong-wu Ong and Jung-se Oh.
Hyundai Motor also provided its Wonhyoro Service Centre at Yongsan for use as a shooting location. Located in the centre of Korea’s capital city, the area around the service centre is owned by the carmaker which plans to build a complex with a hotel and other business facilities.
Teaser for next Grandeur In addition, Hyundai plans to unveil the silhouette of the all-new Grandeur (Azera) in photographs, through a cinematic digital advertisement in a spin-off version of ‘Seoul Vibe,’ utilizing the story and cast of the movie. The digital advertisement spotlights the ever-evolving innovation of Grandeur, from the past to the future, and provides hidden hints about the upcoming model that is expected to be launched in Korea at the end of this year.
With the film’s release, Hyundai Motor is also launching diverse experiential marketing content on digital channels. It has recreated the garage shown in the movie on ZEPETO, the global metaverse platform, to provide a virtual experience space where visitors can assemble and drive the vehicles featured in the movie through the driving zone themed ‘Seoul Vibe’. They will also be able to meet Yoon-hee (Ju-hyun Park), a character in the movie, as an NPC (non-player character), and join a vlog event, using the first-generation Grandeur.
“Through close collaboration with Netflix from the early stages of production, we endeavoured to provide a unique atmosphere for our historic vehicles and locations with a ‘newtro’ (new+retro) vibe that will appeal to every generation, including Millennial and Gen Z audiences,” said Thomas Schemera, Executive Vice-President, Global Chief Marketing Officer and Head of Customer Experience Division at Hyundai Motor Company. “We will continue to explore exhilarating opportunities for our customers to experience and engage with our brand through various partnerships and innovative content.”
With Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc – the two F1 championship frontrunners – starting near the back due to penalties for excessive changes to engines/components, a lot of ‘action’ was expected. They were not the only ones with those penalties as another 5 other drivers were also demoted from the positions they had qualified for.
Both of the Scuderia Alphatauris had issues and could not make it to the starting grid, so they had to start from the pits.
Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz, on pole, had a good start, pulling quickly away from Red Bull Racing’s Sergio Perez who was more occupied with preventing Alpine’s Fernando Alonso from sneaking past. But Alonso was quick enough and got through to second, followed by Mercedes-AMG’s Lewis Hamilton. However, in the scramble to slot into second, Alonso and Hamilton had contact and both ran wide.
The incident was noted by the Stewards and while Alonso grabbed fourth, Hamilton was getting a message from his team to stop as he entered Turn 16 – the damage was severe enough that he would have to retire. Later, the Stewards would not consider penalizing either driver for the collision.
Further back, Alfa Romeo’s Valtteri Bottas and Williams Racing’s Nicholas Latifi also had contact as the Williams driver went wide and spun into the Alfa Romeo. For Bottas, the race ended early as he got stuck in the gravel.
The incidents brought out the Safety Car on lap 2. Sainz was in the lead ahead of Perez while Mercedes-AMG’s George Russell third during the time that Alonso and Hamilton were clashing. But it was the two championship leaders that had attention and Verstappen had moved up to eighth (from 15th on the grid) while Leclerc followed him through to ninth (from 16th). Leclerc took the opportunity to switch to another set of tyres while the Safety Car was out.
The F1 Safety Car left the track on lap 5 and racing resumed, thus far with two cars out. Sainz didn’t have a big gap and Perez was keeping him on the defensive. Behind them, Russell was holding on to his third place as Alonso made efforts to displace him.
By lap 7, Verstappen had passed Alonso and was looking for Russell. And within one lap, he out-accelerated the Mercedes-AMG on the straight to take third place. Leclerc, however, did not make the same sort of progress up the field and his pit-stop had dropped him back to 16th.
The tyres were degrading faster than expected and Pirelli had been predicting a 2-satop strategy for the race. Sainz came in on lap 12, which gave Perez the lead and Verstappen just a second behind. Russell seemed to have dropped back a bit but still had a reasonable gap from Alonso.
When Sainz rejoined the race with medium tyres, he slotted into sixth, behind McLaren’s Daniel Ricciardo. His team mate had reached ninth now and though he had taken on fresh tyres 10 laps earlier, the degradation would bring him in again at some point.
Lap 13 saw Verstappen easily pass Perez to take the lead. Behind the two Red Bulls was Russell and then Aston Martin’s Sebastian Vettel, followed by Sainz. Alonso had pitted and was trying his best to move back up from the 11th place he rejoined the race in.
Perez went in on lap 15 and when he rejoined, he was behind Sainz and more importantly, ahead of Leclerc. The Ferrari driver made a move to get past but Perez held his place going through a turn. A lap later, Verstappen was in the pits to get medium tyres. He rejoined in second, ahead of Perez but 4 seconds behind Sainz who had inherited the lead.
Lap 18 saw the Dutchman capture the lead as DRS propelled him past approaching Turn 5. Behind him, Sainz would be fighting to keep his place while Perez was snapping at him. Russell was too far back with a 7-second gap but there were still 26 long laps left. Leclerc too was 7 seconds behind him, and Alonso also had the same gap to the Ferrari.
At the halfway point in the race, Verstappen was in the lead with a 7-second gap to his team mate. Sainz was third and 10 seconds behind the leader while Russell was maintaining his fourth position without worrying too much about Leclerc who was fifth and 11 seconds behind.
Sainz left his position on lap 24 switches to the hard compound, while Leclerc took on mediums. Rejoining the race, Sainz was in fourth while Leclerc was behind Alpine’s Esteban Ocon in seventh. Alonso had also come in and took on hard tyres, dropping to 13th when he was back on the track. The drivers within the top 10 were spaced apart too far to make an effort to move up and risk an incident putting them out. But Leclerc was determined to work his way up further and slowly picked off one rival after another.
By lap 31, Leclerc was past Vettel and into fifth place, looking ahead for Russell. With 13 laps to go, the Mercedes-AMG driver was still working hard to try to get on the podium so it was taking a while for Leclerc to catch up with him.
Verstappen reported some shifting issues but his engineer told him not to worry. Having had almost certain victories snatched from him in the closing stages of previous races, he was understandably paranoid about mechanical failure. But he had a 13-second lead, which also meant that he did not have to push the car so hard. And Perez was just behind, ready to take over, if the worst happened.
The battle for that last point-paying position was still hotly-contested. Williams Racing’s Alex Albon was holding on, but Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll kept closing in and McLaren’s Lando Norris was watching from 12th to see if he could sneak past.
As 4 laps remained, Leclerc seemed to give up trying to catch up with Russell and was probably wanting to ensure that he could cross the line in fifth at least, or might try for an extra point at the end with a fastest lap. The finishing order seemed to be almost certain, barring any unexpected problems to the leading cars.
For the Alpine F1 team, things were looking good as both Alonso and Ocon (running in sixth and seventh) would collect points from the Belgian GP. It would give them a more comfortable position in the championship, especially as McLaren was unlikely to get any points this time.
As expected, Leclerc came in on lap 43 to quickly get a set of new tyres and rejoined right ahead of Alonso. He was a bit slow, and Alonso got past but the Ferrari driver managed to overtake the Alpine into Turn 5 and off he went to try to get the fastest lap before the race ended when Verstappen led his team mate across the finish line. Sainz had managed to stay ahead of Russell to be the one to stand on the podium in third place.
When it started in 1979, the Dakar Rally (or Paris-Dakar Rally, as it was known then) ran from Paris to Dakar on the western coast of Africa. 43 years later, the Dakar Rally is still running – but it is actually in Saudi Arabia. In fact, between 2009 and 2019, it was held in South America after being forced to relocate due to security issues along the original route in Africa.
Next year, we will also see another famous event – the Geneva International Motor Show (GIMS) – not being held in its original city of Geneva in Switzerland but in Doha, Qatar. It will be the first time since the first Geneva Motor Show was held in 1905 that the event is relocating and will be held in November 2023.
The Geneva International Motor Show used to be the first major international motorshow each year, and often had concept cars and design studies as its highlights.
In 2020, the event had to be cancelled at the last moment due to the COVID-19 pandemic and urgent measures taken by the Swiss health authorities banned public gatherings of more than 1,000 people. Many other international events around the world were also cancelled or postponed but the cancellation of GIMS also seemed to make carmakers rethink their participation in such events and rethink marketing strategies.
While GIMS has traditionally been the first major international motorshow each year in March (though the North American International Auto Show which runs earlier has gained significance), often seeing the debut of new concepts and models, carmakers also began to see online promotion as becoming increasingly viable. With the pandemic creating uncertainties, commitments were slow to come for their future participation after 2020. As a result, the 2021 and 2022 events could also not run.
Brands from Malaysia have also participated in the Geneva motorshow. In 2010, Proton displayed its EMAS concept (left) while Bufori also had its Geneva model there.
”Our team has worked very hard to ensure that GIMS 2023 can take place in both Geneva and Doha,” said Sandro Mesquita, CEO of the Geneva International Motor Show. “In these uncertain times, many brands are not in a position to commit to participating in a show in Europe in the winter. After assessing all the elements, it has become clear to the foundation that the 2023 Salon cannot take place in Geneva as planned.”
”We have done everything possible to ensure that we could host GIMS 2023 in Geneva in February. The enhanced event format and project had been very well received. But in the end, the risks overweighed the opportunities,” explained Maurice Turrettini, President of the foundation Comite permanent du Salon international de l’automobile de Geneve.
”Due to the uncertainties in the global economy and geopolitics, as well as the risks related to the development of the pandemic, the organisers have decided to focus exclusively on the planning of the event in Doha in 2023,” he explained, adding that the original plan to hold the show in two parts, with the first in Geneva, would not be carried out and only the second part in Doha would be realised.
The Doha Exhibition and Convention Centre in Qatar will be the new home for the Geneva International Motor Show from 2023.
GIMS in Doha will take place in November 2023 at the Doha Exhibition and Convention Centre as well as several other decentralised venues, and will offer many unique and spectacular driving experiences. “We are now fully focused on organising GIMS in Doha and look forward to confirming the dates and format of this ground-breaking event with our partners at Qatar Tourism shortly,” said Mesquita, adding that the event in Qatar is scheduled to take place every 2 years.
The Tokyo Motorshow has also shifted venues since its first event in 1954 (above), but it has always been around the Tokyo area. After the first few years in a park, it moved to a proper exhibition hall in Harumi. By the late 1980s, the event had grown to become a major international motorshow and its venue moved to the huge Makuhari Messe complex (below) near Tokyo Disneyland in 1989. It would remain there until 2009 when conditions changed and the number of exhibitors became less. As a result, the venue was moved closer to Tokyo at the smaller Tokyo Big Sight convention centre (bottom) where it has been since 2011.Makuhari MesseMakuhari MesseTokyo Big SightTokyo Big Sight
After the usual summer break, the 2022 Formula 1 World Championship resumes for Round 14, the 66th Belgian Grand Prix at the Spa-Francorchamps Circuit. Of the 66 times, Spa-Francorchamps has hosted F1 races 54 times, the other circuits being Zolder and Nivelles.
This circuit has the longest lap distance on the F1 calendar, with a length of 7.004 kms. As a result, it also has the least number of laps – just 44 – for the race to total 308.052 kms. For this year, the circuit has been modified with key changes but still retaining the challenges drivers have faced before. One of the reasons for the changes has been to bring back motorcycle racing and, in some sections, Turn 9, for example, there are two versions which satisfy the requirements of both car and motorcycle racing.
Besides resurfacing certain areas, there are changes to the run-off areas, realignment of barriers and fences and changes to kerbs. Additional gravel traps have been installed on mid-corner to corner exits to discourage drivers from exceeding track limits.
“Spa has undergone some of the biggest changes we have seen since we started going there in the modern era of Formula 1. But we know something of what to expect, thanks to the 24-hour race last month, as well as some asphalt samples that we have taken,” said Mario Isola, Pirelli’s Motorsport Director.
“In addition to some new asphalt on 5 corners, there are some new gravel traps on 4 corners, which are much closer to the side of the track. Drivers will need to pay more attention to track limits, and there’s also an increased chance of sharp gravel being dragged onto the surface. The epic nature of Spa remains unchanged though, with all the traditional challenges that make the circuit so exciting still in place,” he added.
Spa-Francorchamps is one of the most demanding circuits for tyres on the F1 calendar, with its particularly high lateral loads. The famous Eau Rouge-Raidillon complex is just one of the places where tyres are subjected to multiple forces: pushed into the ground by downforce and compression, while cornering at the same time. Variable weather is always well known at Spa-Francorchamps, making an outing for the Cinturato Green intermediate or Cinturato Blue full wet tyre a distinct possibility.
According to Brembo technicians, the circuit is also demanding for brakes. On a scale of 1 to 5, it is rated 4 on the difficulty index. It is the most complete track in F1 because in just over 7 kms, it has corners and straights of all shapes and lengths. One of its distinctive features is the 3 braking sections of at least 2.5 seconds, something not shared by any other track on the calendar.
This year, as a result of the increase in wheel diameter from 13 to 18 inches on the new F1 racing cars, the diameter of the brake discs has also increased. The increased braking force required has also led to an increase in the size of the Brembo brake calipers made of aluminium alloy machined from billet and nickel-plated.
The dimensions of the calipers have increased on average 10% both at the front and the rear. This year, all the teams use 6-piston calipers at the rear too; the 4-piston rear calipers used by those who preferred their lighter weight have disappeared.
Despite being the longest track in the championship, the brakes are used just 7 times per lap. The brake system is used for just under 14 seconds on each lap, amounting to 13% of the total duration of the race. Although use of the brakes is reduced, when they are used, the strain on the brake system is very high.
“The long lap distance at Spa-Francorchamps brings with it a few unique challenges. For example, if a car gets damaged early in the lap, more time is lost getting back, and the weather is very changeable, so conditions can vary massively from corner to corner. And it means the lap takes longer to complete, therefore you can’t fit as many laps into practice and qualifying run plans to test different set-up configurations,” said Mercedes-AMG’s Toto Wolff.
The teams have therefore to give much attention to set-up, balancing the desire for outright pace on the straights with enough downforce to optimize lap time in the more technically demanding second sector.
“A bigger wing will gain time in the middle sector but leave you vulnerable on the straights, while a smaller wing will provide less drag for the flat-out sections but not providing the same level of grip in the twisty corners. This is a similar predicament to Baku,” Wolff explained.
In the long history of the Formula 1 Belgian GP, Michael Schumacher has taken the chequered flag the most times with 6 victories between 1992 and 2002. His last team, Scuderia Ferrari, has also been the most successful with 18 wins, followed by McLaren with 4 less.
On the starting grid this year, there will be five previous Belgian GP winners – Lewis Hamilton (4 times), Sebastian Vettel (3 times) Daniel Ricciardo (1), Charles Leclerc (1) and Max Verstappen (1).
