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PETRONAS to end sponsorship of Mercedes-AMG F1 team after 2021 season

The PETRONAS name will be absent from the racing cars of the successful Mercedes-AMG Formula 1 team after this year’s championship ends. It has been confirmed that the team, which has won 7 world championships, will no longer have Malaysia’s national oil corporation as its title sponsor. This comes after over 10 years of association between the team and the oil company, although its involvement in F1 goes back as far as 1995. The latest development follows Petronas’ ending of their MotoGP title sponsorship at the end of this year and no longer being associated with the Yamaha SRT team.

Over the years, Petronas has used its association with Formula 1 for many marketing activities, leveraging on the development efforts in fuels and technology. More than 50 engine oils, transmission fluids and hydraulic fluids have been developed for the racing cars to use in extreme conditions. The technologies and knowledge from such developments have eventually been used to develop commercial products for sale to the public.

It would certainly have been very expensive and while Petronas products are available in around 65 countries, many may not know it is a Malaysian company (although ‘MALAYSIA’ has occasionally been put on the cars. But the same can also be said of other major sponsors like Repsol, Santander and certainly, not many of the 500 million people who watch F1 worldwide will be aware that the ORLEN which sponsors the Alfa Romeo F1 team is a Polish petroleum company. Brands like Marlboro, Rolex and even Dell would have more global presence and recognition. But Petronas believes the money has been well spent: in 2016, it estimated the value of brand exposure in F1 from 1995 was worth more than US$900 million.

Saudi Aramco to take over as title sponsor?
In place of Petronas, Mercedes-AMG is expected to have another oil company – Saudi Aramco. As the main company operating in Saudi Arabia, it has the world’s largest network of oilfields and its revenues are chart-topping. Saudi Aramco (which stands for Arabian American Company) is state-owned and was established in 1933. Described as an integrated oil and gas company, it is mainly in upstream activities and has no visible internationalpresence in consumer products, unlike most other oil companies. It does, however, have a network of fuel and service stations (in partnership with Total of France) in Saudi Arabia.

Saudi Aramco, which has been operating for 88 years, is active mainly in upstream oil and gas activities. It also has a network of fuel and service stations under the Sahel brand which is in partnership with Total of France.

The tie-up with Mercedes-AMG is the second major involvement in F1. Last year, Saudi Aramco announced a long-term global sponsorship with the sport, its first global sponsorship of a major sporting event.

“We are excited to partner with Formula 1, a strong global sports brand with millions of fans around the world. As the world’s largest energy supplier and an innovation leader, we have the ambition to find game-changing solutions for better-performing engines and cleaner energy. Partnerships like these are important to help us to deliver on our ambitions,” said Saudi Aramco’s CEO & President, Amin H. Nasser.

Involvement in F1 since 1980s
Saudi Aramco’s involvement in F1 is not Saudi Arabia’s first association with the sport. Older readers will remember that, in the 1980s, Saudia Airlines (the country’s national airline) sponsored the Williams team. Though the Saudia name was the most prominent, Frank Williams also managed to get eight other supporters from Saudi Arabia’s growing business community.

*Saudia Airlines was one of the Saudi Arabian companies that were sponsors for the Williams F1 team in the 1980s.*

The group included TAG (Techniques d’avant Garde), an advanced technology company which was founded by a Saudi businessman. TAG (which bought over the Heuer watchmakers) first sponsored Williams and the McLaren. Today, it also has a major share in the McLaren Group. More recently, TAG Heuer has been a major partner in the all-electric Formula E series as well, along with Saudia Airlines.

Major motorsports events in Saudi Arabia
The country’s ‘Vision 2030’ is also bringing Saudi Arabia into the 21st century and its society is changing, eg women have been allowed to drive cars since 2018. As a result, it has attracted three major motorsports events to be run in the country to boost tourism. The Dakar Rally and Extreme E Desert X-Prix, which were run in the deserts for the first time in 2020 and 2021, respectively, and later this year, the first ever F1 race in the streets of Jeddah. All are significant events which will be widely publicized, and organisers have made deals to run them over a number of years.

*The first round of the inaugural Extreme E electric off-road series was run in Saudi Arabia in April this year.*

2022 Formula 1 calendar to have 23 races, with season-opener in Bahrain

Brembo becomes technical partner for Gran Turismo with performance parts to be available in GT7 (w/VIDEO)

Today’s videogames have superior realism that they can even be used for global racing championships which thousands participate in. Even the FIA, the world motorsport governing body, has recognised simulation videogames, terming them as ‘digital motorsports’.

One of the companies that has been constantly pushing the edge of the simulation envelope further has been Polyphony Digital Inc., developer of the Gran Turismo series for Playstation (PS) consoles since 1997. The series has been constantly improved in all respects, especially realism, and will start its seventh version in March 2022 for PS4 and PS5 consoles.

Official technical partner
For Gran Turismo 7 (GT7), Polyphony Digital has chosen Brembo, a well known and leading designer and manufacturer of performance brake systems as an official technical partner. Brembo supplies brake systems to competition cars (including Formula 1) and motorcycles, as well as roadgoing cars.

In GT7, Brembo will appear in the Tuning Shop of the videogame where its UPGRADE products will be available to players. Like a real-world workshop, this virtual shop is where they can upgrade the performance of their cars.

Upgrading with different brake systems
In this environment, gamers will be able to replace their original brake discs with those from the Sport range and, as they progress through the game, to upgrade their car with different Brembo brake systems. The choice will range up to the highest performing and most distinctive products for road cars, including Carbon Ceramic brake discs and GT|BM calipers, available in 8 different colours.

Now part of Gran Turismo
“We are particularly proud to deliver the uniqueness of Brembo brake systems to the Gran Turismo series. This iconic driving simulation video game franchise has built a strong community of millions of gamers around the world since its creation almost 25 years ago,” said Daniele Schillaci, Brembo’s Chief Executive Officer. “For Brembo, this partnership represents an extraordinary opportunity to reach out to the younger generations, which is in line with our vision, ‘Turning Energy into Inspiration’. From the asphalt of the track, the performance and design of our systems have now become part of the virtual world of Gran Turismo 7. Our ambition is to further enhance the gaming experience, just as the driving experience does in reality.”

Kazunori Yamauchi, President of Polyphony Digital Inc. and Producer of the Gran Turismo series, has personal admiration for the brand. “Even before we released our first Gran Turismo, Brembo was a hero brand to me,“ he said. “As a street racer back then, I had often struggled with the brakes fading. This was because most production cars at the time, excluding a very select few, were not equipped with brakes that matched the power and weight of the car. I always found Brembo to be reliable on the circuit and, as a result, always had a connection with the brand. So it’s a pleasure to announce this partnership between Gran Turismo and Brembo, a true high performance brand.”

Brembo’s profile and values will be visible in the Gran Turismo 7 game’s Brand Central. The 60 years of the company’s history will be presented in the Brand Central Museum. In addition, Brembo will be visible with its branding on the tracks featured in the game as banners or billboards in the background.

Michelin is the Official Tyre Technology Partner for Gran Turismo

2022 Formula 1 calendar to have 23 races, with season-opener in Bahrain

The Formula 1 organisation has released its calendar for next year and the 2022 Formula World Championship will have 23 rounds, one more than 2021. Perhaps to be on the safe side, the Australian GP is no longer the season-opener, as it was for many years. In 2020, the opening round in Melbourne was cancelled at the last moment as the pandemic worsened and there was hope that it could be held later in the year. But that didn’t happen and in 2021, the same thing happened and Bahrain had to quickly take over for the first round.

This year, the Middle Eastern venue is again the season-opener on March 20, along with Jeddah, Saudi Arabia hosting Round 2. It will be the second time for the Jeddah Street Circuit but at this time, little is known about it since the first race on it will only be towards the end of this year’s championship. It is likely to be a night race as it would be cooler, especially in March.

Bahrain Circuit — *The Bahrain International Circuit at Sakhir where the 2022 championship will start.*

Round 3 will be held in Australia, a rather long journey down under and then for Round 4, the teams will have to fly all the way to Florida in the USA where there will be the first ever F1 race in Miami. It will be one of two races to be held in America, the other being Round 20 in October in Texas. The Miami circuit will be new to everyone but the Circuit of The Americas in Austin, Texas, is a familiar one already.

After Miami in the early part of May, the teams will then return to Europe where there will be 3 rounds before crossing the Atlantic again for the Canadian Grand Prix in Montreal. Then it’s back to Europe for 8 rounds until September 25.

*The Spa de Francorchamps Circuit for the Belgian Grand Prix is the longest one on the calendar, with each lap being 7 kms long.*

The only two rounds in the Far East are in Singapore and Japan during October. Both venues had cancelled in 2020 and 2021 due to the severity of their pandemic conditions that made it not only risky for the participants but would also have been troublesome logistically with long quarantine periods.

*The Singapore GP – which was the first-ever F1 night race – is scheduled for October 2 next year. Hopefully, it will run and not have to be cancelled for the third time due to the pandemic.*

After Japan (which hopefully will not be hit by a typhoon at the time), the next venue is in the western hemisphere 14 days later for the second race in America. While they are in the Americas, they will head south to Mexico City for Round 21 and then Sao Paolo’s well known Interlagos Circuit for Round 22. By then, it will be mid-November and the final round of 2022 will be at the Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi on November 20.

Hopefully, unlike the 2020 and 2021 seasons, the schedule as published can be retained and rounds do not have to be cancelled or postponed because certain countries introduce lockdowns again or tougher quarantine requirements. The COVID-19 pandemic seems to be diminishing and health authorities in many countries are hopeful that we will be able to have ‘normalcy’ in 2022, so motorsports and other activities can be held safely.

Is the Monaco Circuit the hardest on brakes in the F1 championship? (w/VIDEO)

ProDrive’s Hunter T1+ competition car to run on sustainable fuel for FIA off-road events

While electrification is the big move by the auto industry to achieve carbon neutrality as soon as possible, there are also parallel efforts by the FIA (the world motorsport governing body) to reduce the environmental impact of motorsport and motorized mobility. The efforts of the organization apply a science-based target reduction plan aligned with the Paris Agreement 1.5°C objective.

One of the strategies is the introduction of 100% sustainable fuel for Formula 1 in 2025. This fuel will have zero net carbon dioxide emissions. The use of this fuel in motorsports could be a savior for internal combustion engines (ICE) if the technology can be widely commercialized for roadgoing vehicles. If this can happen, then the days of the ICE could be extended a bit more while meeting demands to stop carbon dioxide emissions.

While the use of sustainable fuels in F1 has already been committed, there are also other parties in the motorsport community that are supporting the effort. Prodrive, the British motorsport specialist that developed championship-winner cars for the Subaru World Rally Team, will support one of the first major teams in the world to compete with a new generation of advanced sustainable fuels in an FIA championship. The championship is the FIA World Cup for Cross Country Rallies that will run later this year.

The Prodrive-run Bahrain Raid Xtreme (BRX) team will then use this fuel at the Dakar rally in January to demonstrate that such sustainable fuels can be used as a direct replacement for fossil fuels in standard production vehicles.

Prodrive has developed the sustainable fuel over the past 8 months in conjunction with UK-based, Coryton Advanced Fuels. Called Prodrive ECOpower, it has been specifically developed to demonstrate the environmental benefits of the latest sustainable fuel technology. The main components are generation 2 biofuel, manufactured from agricultural waste, and efuels created by capturing carbon from the atmosphere. As a result, the fuel reduces greenhouse gas emissions by 80% compared to equivalent petrol.

“I am a great advocate of motorsport taking the lead in developing, proving and promoting new technologies that can help address climate change. Covering thousands of miles across the toughest terrain, the Dakar and the FIA World Cup for Cross-Country Rallies are the perfect environment to showcase the benefits of the next generation of sustainable fuels and demonstrate that they can be used in road vehicles to reduce the use of fossil fuels, while still offering the same performance and range,” said Prodrive Chairman, David Richards.

The fuel has been developed at Prodrive’s powertrain facility in England and has been run in the BRX team’s Prodrive Hunter T1+ car in the same unmodified engines which previously ran on petrol. While Prodrive ECOpower has been developed for motorsport use, this sustainable fuel can be used as a direct replacement for unleaded petrol in almost any vehicle and the company is planning to run a near identical fuel in a number of its road vehicles to further prove out the technology.

The Hunter T1+ has been specifically designed to compete at the tough Dakar Rally in the deserts of Saudi Arabia and in cross-country rallies across the world. The 4-wheel drive car can travel over almost any type of terrain, from sand dunes to rocky mountain tracks, and at high speeds. Over the 2 weeks of the Dakar, it will cover more than 7,500 kms.

The BRX team has carried out extensive testing in the UK and is now heading to the Middle East for more extensive endurance work in the same conditions it will experience at the rally. The team will then compete at the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge and Hail Rally before heading to the Dakar which starts on the first day of 2022.

eFuel to be used in Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup

3 Malaysians to compete in the TOYOTA GAZOO Racing GT CUP ASIA sim races this evening

Malaysia will once again have entrants in the TOYOTA GAZOO Racing GT CUP ASIA event which will be broadcast at 6:30 pm today. The event, organized by Toyota Motor Asia Pacific, will see Team Malaysia going up against the region’s elite racers from Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand, Korea, India and Taiwan for a chance to become Asia’s two representatives at the TGR GT Cup Global Finals, plus a Grand Prize of US$6,000 (about RM25,000) in cash.

Gunning to become champion in the second running of the event is Taj Izrin Aiman who finished second overall in the inaugural event last year. Compatriot Muhammad Iqbal will also be making his second appearance in the TGR GT CUP ASIA after finishing fourth overall last year. Both drivers earned their way to being participants by finishing in the top two positions, respectively, in the 2021 Toyota GR Velocity Esports Championship, where Taj Izrin Aiman winning his second consecutive title. Nabil Azlan is the third member of the team.

*The three members of the Malaysian team who will challenge racers from other countries in the region.*

4 races, including a street circuit
The TGR GT CUP ASIA will be contested over 4 online races with competitors awarded points based on their placings. The opening race will see drivers competing behind the wheel of a GR Yaris in a 5-lap race around the 7.3-km Tokyo Expressway – where the Top 10 will proceed to the finals.

They will then switch to a GR Supra for another 5 laps for the consolation race, this time at the famous 4.5-km Fuji Speedway. For this race, the Top 5 will be given second wind to be part of the finals.

2020 GR Supra GT Cup Asia — *One of the races will be on the Tokyo Expressway.*

Making its debut this season will be the all-new GR 86, and racers will take on 5 laps of the 7.0-km Spa-Francorchamps circuit in Belgium. During the race, every car must make a mandatory pit-stop and also a tyre change, which means departing from the race momentarily. The fourth and final race will certainly be the most gruelling – 3 long laps of the 13.6-km historical Le Mans Circuit de Sarthe in France behind the wheel of a TS 050 Hybrid sportscar.

Aiming for overall victory
Besides competing for the individual Grand Prize, our Malaysian drivers will also be vying for the US$6,000 team prize pool money. For Taj Izrin Aiman, 23, two straight Toyota GR Velocity Esports Championship titles and his second appearance in the TGR GT CUP ASIA, will help boost his confidence and determination to take the overall title this time.

TS050 HYBRID — *The sim racers will use the TS 050 HYBRID racing car for the final race. This is the real car on the way to one of its wins at the Le Mans 24-Hour race.*

“If last year’s event is anything to go by, all I can say is that the TGR GT CUP ASIA is insanely competitive considering we will be racing against the region’s best drivers,” he said prior to this evening’s races. “The most important thing will be to remain focussed and consistent. You cannot afford to make mistakes in any of the races; if you do, the odds of bouncing back into championship contention will be anything from slim to impossible.”

His performance in the Toyota GR Velocity Esports Championship has been exceptionally consistent and almost dominant when he won two of the three races and finished second once earning him the overall prize of RM20,000. More than 800 participants participated in the championship which began with qualifying rounds in late August, before the top 20 racers moved on to compete in semi-finals held on September 18.

Racing in real and virtual worlds now
“E-racing has taken the country and the region by storm, and this has uncovered an incredible pool of talented simulator racers. Racing is an integral part of Toyota’s heritage and today, that takes place both in the real and virtual worlds,” said GAZOO Racing Malaysia’s Chief Motorsports Officer Akio Takeyama.

“Simulator racing technology has also evolved exponentially over the years and today it is becoming an increasingly important training platform to bring new drivers into motor racing. This is something we have already experienced first-hand with the participation of virtual racers in the Vios Challenge – street racing championship in Malaysia. They are not only capable of making a quicker transition into a racing car, but they are also excelling in racing,” added Mr. Takeyama, who is also a racer himself in the Vios Challenge.

Billed as one of the most lucrative local online racing series in the country, the Toyota GR Velocity Esports Championship was first held in 2018 and UMW Toyota Motor remains the first and the only Malaysian car company to be associated with fast-growing E-sports motor racing activities.

Similarly, the TGR GT CUP ASIA is also the only event of its kind in the region organized by a manufacturer. The Toyota GR Velocity Esports Championship was instrumental in inspiring the series.

Both the TGR GT CUP ASIA and the Toyota GR Velocity Esports Championship support UMW Toyota Motor’s ongoing initiative to bring motorsports to the masse, according to Ravindran K., President of UMW Toyota Motor. “Our objective in Malaysian motorsports is to cultivate greater interest, awareness and appreciation for the sport. There is also enormous talent both on the racing circuit and online, and we would like to bring this to the forefront in support of youth development,” he said.

The story behind TOYOTA GAZOO Racing and why it was created

Proton launches new range of Genuine Oils

There are many brands of engine oil in the market and all the reputable ones can do a good job of lubricating and protecting the engine. With Genuine Oils, however, the specifications and formulation of the oils are specially tailored for the carmaker’s vehicles and therefore should provide optimum performance. Each manufacturer can claim that their Genuine Oil offers the best performance and this may be true too because the engineers who may have worked on the engines know exactly what is needed.

Proton has just launched a new range of Genuine Oils (PGO) which have been developed in collaboration with its technical partner, Petronas. The oils meet the most recent standards specified by the American Petroleum Institute (API), which motorists would be familiar with. The top fully synthetic grade meets the latest API SP standard (5-litre pack only), while the others meet API SN.

In terms of viscosity, the fully synthetic PGO has a viscosity of SAE 5W-30 and 10W-30, the latter meeting the API SN service standard and available only in a 4-litre pack. Then there is a semi-synthetic grade which has passed the API SN standard and has a 10W-30 viscosity, while the mineral oil is 15W-40 and also meets the API SN standard.

The new Genuine Oils are available at all authorised Proton service centres and will also be available from parts stockists. However, for the time being, the parts stockists will carry only the semi-synthetic and mineral PGO.

“The launch of PGO lubricants is another step in Proton’s journey to being a premium Malaysian automotive brand. We worked closely with our partners on the formulation to ensure it met our exacting requirements and offers our customers the engine protection their Proton models deserve at an affordable price. By having a full list of products, we are also able to cover our entire model range including the latest TGDI engines used by our SUVs,” said Roslan Abdullah, CEO of Proton Edar.

The advantage of Genuine Oils

Many authorised service centres of the various brands have a policy that the only oil that can be used is what they supply, which is often a Genuine Oil of the brand or one approved by the carmaker. Customers might not be allowed to bring their own oil to use. Furthermore, warranty conditions may also force owners to use the oil supplied by the service centre and could become void if an ‘unauthorised’ oil is used.

Understandably, this is something that not all owners may agree with. They may feel it is their right to choose their own oil, and they might even be able to buy it for less and save money. However, there are also valid reasons why service centres insist on their oil being used and why the warranty can be at risk if another oil is used.

Firstly, the oil supplied will be the one that meets the requirements of the manufacturer, especially if it is a genuine oil. These requirements, in simplified form, are usually found in the Owner’s Manual and focus on two things – the API standard and the viscosity. If the customer can meet both requirements, there shouldn’t be an issue.

But then there is the question of quality of the oil brought in by the customer. Some may unknowingly buy recycled oil or oil that is of a poor quality but sold as if it meets all the standards. They may not be aware and think that they are saving money. If this inferior oil goes into their engine because they insist on using it, who will be responsible if the engine has problems or even gets damaged? Would it be fair on the manufacturer to accept responsibility when the oil used was not one they were assured of quality?

For this reason, manufacturers want to have control on the products used and if something does go wrong, then they can justifiably provide compensation. Many consumers may not understand this point but it is one of the reasons why, during the warranty period, you need to comply with the requirements.

Once the warranty period is over, then you are free to use whatever oil you wish and go to whichever service centre you to go to. So it is best to be patient and abide by the requirements. Besides, many authorised service centres today have amenities for owners, like complimentary food and drink, so you can have a good ownership experience.