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Inagural Summernats Malaysia Thrills At Sepang International Circuit On Merdeka Weekend

31st August 2014

Kuala Lumpur - The inaugural Summernats Malaysia was held at the Sepang International Circuit over the Merdeka weekend of 29 - 31 August, 2014 and attracted a record 45,231 people over a three day period. An event that is not only adrenaline driven by the sights and sounds of the muscle car and hot rods, visitors of all ages participated in many of the games and activities that were hosted during Summernats Malaysia.

The event organiser JPM Motorsport is no stranger to major international events at the Formula One circuit. Having promoted SUPER GT from 2011 to 2013, the event is of the usual JPM Motorsport fanfare in which entertainment for the entire family takes precedence, and Summernats Malaysia delivered in full spades.

Porsche took center stage at the Welcome Centre of Summernats Malaysia with the exclusive showcase of the Le Mans 1971 No.22 Porsche 917 Kurzheck Coupe and the 2014 Le Mans Porsche 919 Hybrid, flanked by the classic 911s in pristine condition.



As one of JPM Motorsport's longest supporting partner, AFFINBANK returns once again for the fourth year running with the AFFINBANK Auto Fair, in which special deals were offered in collaboration with Proton, Lotus, Land Rover and Jaguar among many others. Aside AFFINBANK's One Million Giveaway "OMG" campaign, a special interest rate of -2.5% BLR were also offered to 27 lucky visitors that purchased properties from Heritage Shield, Symphony Life and Mah Sing who exhibited on site.



The Edaran Tan Chong Motor Sdn. Bhd. booths took the most interest this year among the many automakers that were present this year. Visitors were particularly interested at the newly launched Nissan Sylphy tuned by Impul, which was also the lucky draw Grand Prize of the event.

Mr. JP Chin, Founder of JPM Motorsport said, "While the original Summernats in Australia is an event that focused heavily on cars, we decided to add motorcycles into the mix as part of the localisation effort."

"From the addition of brands such as Moto Guzzi and MV Agusta into the AFFINBANK Auto Fair, the selection is now broader for the automotive enthusiasts, as well as the general public," he further added.



Visitors were especially star-struck at the Summernats Movie Cars zone, where various classic movie cars such as the Back to the Future's DMC Delorean, Le Man's Ford GT40, Gone in 60 Second's Shelby Mustang Eleanor and James Bond's Aston Martin V8 Lagonda were on display. Not leaving modern classics aside, even Herby the Volkswagen Beetle and the Transformers Chevrolet Camaro was there as well. Visitors took great pleasure taking photographs along with these iconic cars.



In the Judging Pavilion Auto Saloon competition, entries from the local quarter were nothing short of impressive. From heavily modified machines to pristinely restored classics, it was in fact Hatish Mayer who managed to cinch the Grand Champion of the Judging Pavilion with this 1968 Chevrolet Impala Fastback.

A display of horsepower and showsmanship rocked the stage area when Gareth Kerr and Mick Brasher of Burnout Master in Zamil Yaheer's Toyota KE70 drift car and Craig Whiddett took Jun Xing's Toyota KE70 unleashed the first legion of smoke during the Burn-out Demo performance. Not to be left out, local professional drifters Ariff Johan and Azrina Jane Abdullah in their GT Radial drift machines together with the Mohd Khayal on his Harley Davidson Sportster took their turns showcasing how much tyre smoke their machines could generate.

The fun does not end there though, as another long term motorsport partner Ultra Racing is back once again with the Ultra Racing Gymkhana Challenge Series 2014, with Summernats as the 2nd Round and special stage. The special gymkhana event saw the participation of 57 cars, with the Summernats Malaysia Ambassadors as the special wild card participants.



Runners and cyclists congregate on the Sepang International Circuit for the first time ever during Summernats, where participants in both the 11.08km Merdeka Run and Biggest Merdeka Bicycle Gathering took to the 5.543km circuit together. The 2-hour long event that happened in the morning of 31st August, 2014 managed to gather a total of 5,835 participants.

"It was an endearing moment to see so many cyclists and runners together on the circuit. It was great to see the people who took the unique opportunity to celebrate Merdeka Day with a difference, by participating in healthy sports together with their family," added Mr. JP Chin.

Aside from running and cycling, JPM Motorsport also held the Merdeka Car and Bike Gathering on the Sepang International Circuit. The participation which saw Ferrari Owners Club Malaysia, Porsche Club Malaysia, Lamborghini Owners Club, Lotus Car Club Malaysia, Alfa Romeo Owners Club, Nissan Almera Club, Mazda MX-5 Club, Honda City Club, and Malaysia Kia Forte Club garnered a total of approximately 200 cars. Riders from the Harley Owners Group, KTM Duke Club, Superbikes Association Malaysia and street cubs took the participation count up to approximately 400 motorcycles in the Bike category.



The crowd was further entertained after the gathering on the track when the Ferrari Owners Club, Lamborghini Owners Club and Porsche Owners Club had a friendly track competition amongst each other. Porsche Malaysia also took the opportunity to showcase the prowess of their latest offering, the Porsche 911 GT3 (991) and the crowd were thoroughly pleased to see the amount of supercars high revving on the track.

All in all, the inaugural Summernats Malaysia was an event that not only introduced general Malaysians to the custom car and motorcycle culture, it also managed to rekindle memories of enthusiasts with their exemplary showcase of yesteryear silver screen machines, hot rods, muscle cars, classic cars, gathering a total of approximately 45,000 people over a period of three days in the process.

JPM Motorsport is pleased at the attendance that the event has managed to pull off thus far, and that it officially sets in stone the first milestone to beat for the next Summernats Malaysia to come.

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For further information about Summernats Malaysia, please email pr@summernats.com.my.