The Sepang 12 Hours returns this weekend following a 7 year hiatus and features New Zealanders Reid Harker and Andre Heimgartner in the field.
Harker will be competing for the Earl Bamber Motorsport Giga Racing entry, partnering local drivers Adrian D’Silva and Nazim Azman. Heimgartner will drive for Australian entry AMAC Motorsport, partnering Andrew Macpherson and William Porter.
Both Kiwis will be competing in the Pro-AM class and driving Porsche 911 GT3 Rs.
For Harker it’s a return to South East Asia where he was based for the majority of last year. He experienced mixed levels of success but was never far from the front. He also competed in the season-finale of the Thai Super Series in December and finished on the podium in both races.
Heimgartner is a Kiwi who needs no introduction, a well-established Supercars racer for Brad Jones Racing. He’s featured on the podium 10 times in that series and won his maiden race in 2021 at The Bend. He sits fifth in the 2023 standings following a solid outing in Newcastle just last week.
GT racing is a whole different format, however, making for an interesting weekend ahead for the 27-year-old.
The Sepang 12 Hours is a race which has seen Kiwis on the top step before when Craig Baird won outright with Clearwater Racing and sharing his drive with Hiroshi Hamaguchi and Weng Sun Mok.
The 2017 edition was cancelled due to a lack of competitor entries with the race not having run since. A partnership between Sepang International Circuit and Top Speed sees the event make a highly anticipated return albeit with a number of changes.
The main difference is the run time. Despite the race name remaining as the “Sepang 12 Hours”, the race is actually only 8 hours and runs from 2pm until 10pm local time (7pm-3am NZ time).
The entry list is still slim, as to be expected from an event which returns after such a long absence. With WEC and IMSA events featuring massive fields on the other side of he world it’s fair to say teams may have had their priorities this weekend elsewhere.
Even then, the 13 entrants still bring a stunning range of GT machinery to the renowned Malaysian circuit. Cars involved include a Lamborghini Huracan, Ferrari 488 GT3 Evo, BMWs, Audis, Porsche and an Aston Martin Vantage.
Qualifying for the Sepang 12 Hour will be live streamed from 2pm on Saturday (NZ time). Race coverage begins that same day from 7pm, also on live stream.
