The next step for Caterham in its quest to expand business globally is introducing an Asian version of Superlight R300 Championship at Sepang International Circuit in Malaysia.
Why Malaysia? Because Caterham Cars is now owned by Air Asia. The new championship will be backed by Air Asia with the first race weekend commencing in May 2012.
The R300 Series is a popular championship is UK and Europe, with equally fast race-prepped Sevens featuring 175bhp Ford Duratec 2.0-litre engines and dedicated race chassis fighting to the limit for victory.
The Malaysian R300 cup will be operated by Caterham Motorsport’s Malaysian partner, the prominent Thunder Asia Racing Team, run by Raja Zaini. It will manage race package sales, build the race vehicles, provide technical support, transport and race organisation. Each race will see 16 or more cars on the grid.
Ansar Ali, Chief Executive of Caterham Cars, said: “We’re hugely excited to be officially launching the championship and demonstrating how fantastic Caterham Seven racing is, especially at such a renowned circuit which the Formula 1 drivers enjoy so much.
“We already have plans to expand the grids to over 40 cars in the coming years; we know how much appetite there is for motorsport in the East and this is a terrific platform on which to continue expanding our motorsport and road car business in this part of the world.”
