MSF Merdeka Race 2025

TOP 4 OVERALL WINNERS OF THE 2025 PETRONAS-MSF MERDEKA RACE REPRESENTED BY 4 CLASS WINNERS

Veteran racer Faidzil Alang and rising local star Mohamed Hafez raced to glory in the 111 laps of the Petronas-MSF Merdeka Race 2025 – powered by Petronas Primax that was held in celebration of Independence Day at the Sepang International Circuit.

The pair, behind the wheel of a Toyota GR Yaris, completed the challenging endurance race in just under five-and-a-half hours, taking the chequered flag two laps clear of their nearest rival, the pair of Freddie Ang and Foo Yung in a Suzuki Swift, and the pair of Seth Gilmore and Cooper Webster who finished third in a Toyota GT86.

The race which began after 5pm at the completion of the national anthem, lined up 69 cars on the starting grid, of which only 45 completed.

This marks the 8^th year of the MSF Merdeka Race weekend which has evolved into one of the most highly anticipated racing highlights every year, and has grown from an 88-lap race to 99 laps in 2024, and now 111 laps.

“This is the first 111-lap endurance race and we won it. How special was that,” said Faidzil. “This has by far been the best result for us in the Merdeka Race. Last year we had problems with the car…we modified it too much and had a fuel pump issue and failed to perform. We learned from this experience and went back to basics.

“We had a plan in place which was to maintain a consistent lap time. If we focused too much on chasing the front cars we would run out of fuel. We managed to schedule three pit stops throughout the race. We were confident that with the right machine we could win the race but it depended greatly on the strategy, reliability and the focus of both drivers.”

Despite qualifying on pole position, Mohamed who took on the responsibility of being the first driver in the 55Twelve Racing Toyota GR Yaris played a game of patience and positioned himself within the top three runners. In addition to the overall victory, the pair of Mohamed and Faidzil also won the Super Touring Class.

Second overall was also enough to earn the pair of Ang and Foo victory in the Super Compatto class, while the pair of Gilmore and Webster went on to win the GT86-BRZ Racing Cup class.

“The whole strategy was to maintain a good pace from start to finish as we knew we had a slower car than the front runners in the class. We were at least 5 seconds down on lap timing and we knew we couldn’t chase them therefore the focus was on steering clear of any problems and looking after the tyre wear. We planned for four pit stops and that was precisely what we did,” said Ang who raced to his best ever Merdeka Race finish. He was third in 2024.

In fourth place overall but winning the Super Production class was Singaporean Jonathan Xie and Quek Kian Wee in the Predator Piston Project Honda Jazz. It marked his third successive class win in three years of competing in the Merdeka Race.

“The race was very exciting. The class leader was extremely quick, at least two seconds quicker per lap, but we managed to keep it a close race with our pit strategy. Unfortunately, the lead car encountered some issues in the last 10 laps and that gave us the opportunity to get ahead,” said Xie.

“It’s a strong result for the entire team having won our class over the last two years but this was certainly the best overall finish.”

The race offered RM 5,000 for the overall winner; RM 3,000 for the overall runner-up, and RM 2,000 for the overall 2^nd runner up. This was in addition to prize monies per category (RM 3,500 for the category winner, RM 1,500 for the category runner-up, and RM 1,000 for the category 2^nd runner-up).

Also held over the weekend was a 40-minute + 1-lap race for four classes of racing: SuperSeries; Tuner Production; SkillDRVN one-make race; and Campro Cup, as well as a 75-minute + 1-lap race for the Sage and MyVi Cups.

Racing action on two wheels meanwhile, was fueled by the American V-Twin Cup by Prodigy Racing featuring American iron such as Harley Davidson and Indian motorbikes, and the running of the very first 33-lap MotoMSF Superbikes endurance race.

OVERALL RESULTS – PETRONAS-MSF MERDEKA RACE (111 LAPS)