A team of Queensland locals teamed with a Kiwi last weekend to compete in Asia’s most prestigious motor racing endurance event, the 12 hour Merdeka Millennium Endurance Race in Sepang, Malaysia.

Juniper Racing owner and local Carrera Cup driver Shaun Juniper teamed with reigning Carrera Cup Champion Craig Baird and Kiwi GT3 driver Paul Kelly to finish 6th overall and 2nd in Open Class in a field of over 90 race cars in 4 classes.

With the car arriving in Malaysia only days before the team arrived, the preparation was “last-minute.com” and Shaun and Paul drove the 500+ horse power 997 GT3 RSR for the very first time in Wednesday’s unofficial practice, whilst the pit crew continued to prepare and make adjustments on set-up right up until the start of the race.

The Juniper Racing Pit Crew was led by well known Gold Coast Race Engineer Greg Wooster, Porsche Cars Australia’s  Motorsport Director Jamey Blaikie, Race Mechanic Don Kington, PCGC’s Master Technician Bobby McAlpine and team ‘gopher’, PCGC Dealer Principal Terry Knight. They were joined on race day by PCGC customer Peter Mills (who thought he was coming to enjoy corporate hospitality and ended up with a myriad of tasks) and Shaun’s father, Graham Juniper who donned the fire-proof overalls and extinguisher as our Fire Safety Chief.

Put into perspective, the BMW factory team Petronas Syntium with a new Z4 race car also developing in excess of 500 horsepower and driven by racing legend Hans Stuck, had a pit crew of over 20 mechanics and engineers!

After qualifying 2nd on the grid, Craig Baird piloted the Juniper RSR to 1st position with a 22 second buffer, at the first driver change. Shaun Juniper maintained the lead well into the 3rd hour until a racing incident with a lapped Porsche GT3 left the Juniper 997 RSR with frontal damage and a major coolant leak.

After 80 minutes in the pits repairing the damage, Paul Kelly resumed the battle in 58th position. The fighting spirit of this new team was evidenced by a ‘never say die’ attitude as they collectively worked back up through the field with consistently quick lap times and a smooth transition of drivers, fuel and tyres during the pit stops.

In the final hour, Baird took the wheel for the last time and drove brilliantly to pick off the 2nd place open class competitor in a GT3 with only a handful of laps remaining.  Baird was physically drained at the finish as the combination of extreme heat inside the race car, 28 degree outside temperature with very high humidity, a malfunctioning water bottle and the concentrated effort of a sprint to the finish took their toll on him despite his high level of fitness.

“There’s no doubt we could have won it, but that’s Motorsport!” lamented Shaun Juniper after the race. “The GT3RSR went like a dream all weekend and the entire team was fantastic”.

The race was won overall and in open class by the German team Farnbacher Racing in a Porsche 996 GT3RSR, with Melbourne drivers Marc Cini and David Reynolds grabbing 3RD place in a 996 GT3 Cup Car. The Petronas BMW Z4 led the race until the 11th hour after inheriting the lead as a consequence of Shaun Junipers accident, but electrical problems forced the Z4’s withdrawal.

The Juniper 997 GT3RSR is on its way to Australia and will be on display at Porsche Centre Gold Coast in October. Don’t miss your chance to see the car that is the pinnacle of Porsche GT Motorsport and expected to compete at front of field in the worlds most famous endurance races such as the 24 hour races of Nurburgring and Dubai.