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The year cannot end without running Malaysia’s popular endurance race – the Sepang 1000km (S1K) – and it will take place on November 17, 18 and 20 at the Sepang International Circuit (SIC). On November 19th, it’s voting day for the General Elections so activities will be suspended on that day,

As a big finale to the race calendar, this year’s S1k has the highest number of entries since 2019. The full grid will see no less than 77 cars. The entries are not only from Malaysia; with travel restrictions due to the pandemic now eased, there are also competitors from neighbouring countries.

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It’s been a busy year for Honda Malaysia, having started with the launch of the new Honda Civic and then the HR-V, two popular models that presently have long waiting lists. And to end the year, the company has launched an additional variant for the Civic in the form of the Civic e:HEV Hybrid today.

This is no surprise, of course, as it was already announced a month ago and Honda Malaysia even allowed us to get the first drive impressions at the Sepang circuit. We were able to show you what the car looks like and the only things that were not known then were the interior (under embargo) and of greater interest to the public, the price.

So first off, here’s the price: RM166,500 (without insurance) for the single RS version and this is around RM15,800 more than the Civic RS with just a 1.5-litre turbocharged engine. So, by virtue of its price, the Civic e:HEV would be the flagship of the range which includes the 1.5V and 1.5E versions. Malaysia is one of only three countries in the world to have the e:HEV version of the Civic Sedan, the others being Thailand and China.

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East Malaysia, though having a smaller volume of sales than Peninsular Malaysia, continues to grow and for companies selling pick-up trucks, it is an important market. Due to the varied nature of the roads in the region, pick-up trucks are ideal for travelling around so they are very popular.

Sime Darby Auto ConneXion (SDAC), which has a range of Ford trucks to offer, has been strengthening its presence in East Malaysia over the years. Following the recent debut of the Next-Generation Ford Ranger in Sabah, the exclusive distributor for the brand in Malaysia has appointed a new dealership in Kota Kinabalu.

The new Ford Kota Kinabalu dealership is located at the Inanam Auto Hub and operated by Boston Auto Sdn Bhd. It is SDAC’s 7th outlet in East Malaysia (and the 36th in Malaysia) and strategically located within Sabah’s capital city.

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Besides a dominant 1-2 victory in the 8 Hours of Bahrain, final round of the 2022 World Endurance Championship (WEC), as well as securing a clean sweep of titles, TOYOTA GAZOO Racing also made history by taking a historic Hypercar title double.

Outgoing World Champions Mike Conway, Kamui Kobayashi and Jose Maria Lopez took a hard-earned win, their second of the season in their #7 GR010 HYBRID, to confirm the as Hypercar manufacturers’ World Champions.

Sebastien Buemi, Brendon Hartley and Ryo Hirakawa, in the #8 GR010 HYBRID, had started the weekend level on points with their Alpine title rivals. but finished second to become Drivers’ World Champions, adding to their 2022 Le Mans 24 Hours win.

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As the cars began to form up on the starting grid for the 2022 Sao Paulo F1 GP, it was the first time seeing the front row having both the Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS cars, with George Russell on pole. Only one more race remains and perhaps this is the start of the change of the team’s fortunes.

As the lights went out to start the 71-lap race, Russell got a great start with Lewis Hamilton right on his tail. The lone McLaren of Lando Norris was alongside the two Red Bull cars and by the first turn, it was Max Verstappen ahead. But further back, Norris’ team mate, Daniel Ricciardo had contact with Haas F1’s Kevin Magnussen who went into a spin. As the Haas car was spinning, Ricciardo bumped into it again and it went off into the barriers. The race was over for both drivers and even before the other cars had completed the first lap, the F1 Safety Car was on the move.

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Following the announcement a year ago that Lunaz Design was taking orders for its first batch of classic electric Range Rovers, demand has been growing and now accounts for 45% of the marque’s total production. The orders are for two configurations – ‘Town’, which focuses on rear seat and driver comfort, and ‘Country’, which incorporates engineering features that enable ‘better-than-new’ off-roading capability – which will be made in a 70:30.

The company says that the first two units are the most complex Range Rover builds ever undertaken by Lunaz Design. The first is a Long Wheelbase variant in ‘Town’ configuration and the second is a fully open Safari model – the same type that featured in the James Bond film, Octopussy – in ‘Country’ specification.

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Race starts at 3 pm in Brazil/ 2 am (Monday) in Malaysia

The 2022 Sao Paulo Grand Prix (previously known as the Brazilian Grand Prix) has certainly been producing some firsts, starting with Kevin Magnussen giving the Haas F1 team its long awaited po9le position for the Sprint Qualifying Race. And then Mercedes-AMG’s George Russell getting his first ever pole position in the race, along with his team also getting its first pole position of the season.

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Sprint Race starts at 4:30 pm in Brazil/3:30 am (Sunday) in Malaysia

The 21st round of the 2022 Formula 1 World Championship continues in the western hemisphere 7,500 kms south of the last venue in Texas. It’s the Sao Paulo Grand Prix which many will know as the Brazilian Grand Prix. The change of name occurred last year (the 2020 F1 race was not run due to the pandemic) and was said to reflect the greater involvement of the city as well as to give it more prominence globally.

The circuit also has two names; officially, since 1985, it has been known as the Autodromo Jose Carlos Pace, honouring a Brazilian F1 driver who had his only win there in 1975. However, racing fans have usually referred to it as Interlagos, the name being taken from the area that the track is in.

Whatever the name, it has been on the F1 calendar since Brazil’s first F1 race in 1973. While most of the rounds have been held at Interlagos, in 1978 and between 1981 and 1989, the Brazilian GP was held at the Jacarepagua circuit in Rio de Janeiro.

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Today, Euro5 diesel is available to motorists nationwide, enabling them to run on a cleaner, high-quality fuel that is not only good for the engine but also for the environment. But prior to this day (November 12) in 2014, the fuel was only up to the Euro2 standard which was significantly less environment friendly. However, due to the controls that the government have on the petroleum industry and also the higher costs, the upgrading of fuel standards was slow.

The upgrading of standards was important because the newer generation of diesel engines requires fuel of better quality with much lower levels of sulphur. Furthermore, Singapore had become stricter on the exhaust emissions of commercial vehicles and as a great number cross over from Malaysia daily to deliver goods, the transport industry also needed to have better fuel.

The first company to make the decision to provide Euro5 diesel was Boustead Petroleum Marketing Sdn Bhd, which markets the BHPetrol brand of fuels and lubricants. After discussions with the government which was supportive of the move, the company began to supply Infiniti Euro5 diesel to a few stations in Johor. This was to quickly address the issue for the lorry operators going to Singapore.

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In the early part of the 20th century, many car companies were formed to make and sell the new ‘horseless carriages’. But over time, it was a case of Charles Darwin’s ‘survival of the fittest’ which applied to businesses as much as nature. By the end of the century, the number was considerably less than when it started and mega corporations were formed as a few companies merged.

Now, in the 21st century, the same thing is happening again as a ‘new’ type of motor vehicle – the electric vehicle (EV) – is poised to move into the mainstream – even displacing combustion engined vehicles in another few decades. And again, we see many new companies or start-ups appearing to try to get even a tiny slice of the growing EV market.

Some have been around a few years already, quietly developing their models and approaching investors and now, it seems that many are beginning to reveal themselves and present their products. One of them is AEHRA, an Italian company that aims to ‘disrupt the existing automotive ecosystem by distilling the values of Italian design, world-class engineering and American customer service to leverage the advantages of next-generation EV powertrain packaging and technology’.

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