24 hours of kei cars zooming around Sepang is probably the cutest thing to watch in 2023

Endurance racing is not about speed but how long your machine and body can last under a certain period of time or a set amount of distance. It’s a test of determination and willpower to be driving around a circuit for hours upon hours.

The K Car Global 24-Hour Endurance Race is no Le Mans or Daytona which hosts plenty of aerodynamic action from some of the fastest and wildest-looking track cars. However, performance is never really the biggest draw when you’re limited to a maximum capacity of 1,100 cc and the safety car is a stock Perodua Myvi.

Instead, it’s the charm of the competitors who really bring it all in good fun. The kei cars that ran around the famous Herman Tilke-designed circuit for one weekend between the Malaysian leg of the 2023 MotoGP season and the 2023 Sepang 1000 KM Endurance Race bring another side of motorsports where speed isn't always the final fun factor.

Tiny tornadoes

Since its introduction by the Japanese government in 1949, the kei car was just simple mobility for the masses but its time in motorsports would enter the fray in the 1990s. In March 1990, the government changed the regulation that allowed a bigger engine displacement (550 cc to 660 cc) and a maximum power output of 64 PS.

Also read: Meet the kawaii Kei sports cars of the nineties

This saw the proliferation of sporty-looking kei cars including the likes of the Suzuki Alto Works, Daihatsu Mira TR-XX, Honda Beat, and the Autozam AZ-1. This increase in power output opened the doors for kei cars to be involved in motorsports.

Also read: Hot like wasabi – The Kei hot hatches of the Bubble Era

Towards the 1990s and early 2000s, various race events began accepting kei cars though most of them are involved at grassroots or amateur levels. One-make race series like the Formula Suzuki Kei series and the Honda N-One race series became affordable entries for aspiring or casual racers.

In 2001, the first major kei car endurance race was held at Fuji Speedway. Founded by racing car designer and Madhouse Racing owner, the late Satoshi Sugiyama, the first K4-GP flagged off.

The biannual endurance racing event sees kei cars from 5 classes race amidst the backdrop of the iconic Mount Fuji for 5 to 10 hours. At the last K4-GP held in August, 128 teams participated in the 10-hour-long endurance race.

Fuji Speedway wasn’t the only location that these kei cars competed in as the Sepang International Circuit was the only overseas leg of the K4-GP endurance race between 2005 and 2013. During the inaugural leg in Sepang, the race lasted 6 hours but from 2007, the race was bumped to a full day.

Following 2013, K4-GP remained only in Japan at the Fuji Speedway but in 2017, a new kei car endurance race restarted in Malaysia.

Malaysian kei car madness

Just like Japan’s K4-GP, Malaysia’s K Car Global race would be held biannually. The third K Car Global Enduro was supposed to be held in 2021 but because of obvious circumstances that befell the world in 2020, kei car fans would have to wait until 2023 for its return.

In both K Car Global and K4GP, teams are allowed to compete in vehicles with engines no larger than 1,100 cc that are turbo/supercharged or naturally aspirated. These were then divided into different classes that saw teams from Japan and Malaysia.

Of the classes, the most interesting is the Class 1 category. These consisted of race-prepped track machines that looked like shrunken-down Le Mans racers. Underneath, they are powered by an engine sourced from a kei car with most of them using Suzuki’s venerable F6A engine, widely considered as the 2JZ of the kei car world.

Also read: 10 weird Japanese cars that will blow your minds!

As such, there is an array of Japanese kei cars competing that would make a kei car connoisseur like yours truly feel like they’re in paradise. There are souped-up Copens and Cappuccinos but most teams prefer the Suzuki Alto or Daihatsu Mira.

Also read: The Daihatsu Mira story part 2: Kelisa, Viva, and beyond

While the 41 teams that took part this year were mostly Malaysians and Japanese, there were a couple of teams from Singapore and Australia. The team from Down Under called themselves Team Koala Lumpur and you might be able to catch their experience on YouTube.

Throughout the 24 hours, the teams faced the usual unpredictability of Malaysian weather. Heavy showers drenched the track and though it lasted for a moment, some cars spun off as the wet circuit dried.

Also read: Batu Tiga was once Malaysia's motor racing playground, what the heck happened?

By nightfall, fatigue kicked in for the crew and the drivers even though some teams brought in up to 9 drivers. Some cars sustained massive damage but as the night wore on, almost all 41 teams were still out on the track.

Though it may seem like a race, it was all in good spirits because, at the end of the day, this is merely a fun pastime. Entrance to the race was free and the whole atmosphere was very chill with the circuit filled with the tiny drones of small 3-cylinders (or in the case of the Subaru Vivio, 4).

Team titans

There were also some interesting teams competing this year too. The team that raced this miniaturized Ford GT40 is called Team Dementia and it was fielded by elderly drivers who literally have dementia. Unfortunately, the team did not finish the race.

There was even a Malaysian team fielded by an all-female driver squad which raced in a stock-looking last-gen Perodua Axia. Team Speed Angels was one of two teams that competed in the last-gen Axia and finished the race fourth in class.

Also read: Now cheaper than before, can the 2023 Perodua Axia E tempt more motorcycle owners to switch over

However, the most inspiring team of all is without a doubt Team Motor Sports Barrier-free in the #26 Subaru Vivio. The Vivio is one of the few competitors racing with an automatic transmission but that is because of circumstances.

The 7-driver team was fielded by a mix of abled and wheelchair-bound drivers. Speaking to a team representative after the race, he explained that the car’s acceleration and braking can be controlled via a hand lever connected in the middle.

The team would remove the plating covering the pedals when swapping for the abled drivers. The #26 Vivio finished a respectable 23rd overall and 4th in its class but it won everyone’s hearts.

After 24 hours there can only be one winner and it was a very close fight all things considered. The overall winner was a 3-door Daihatsu Mira which took home the title ahead of the second-place team by a single lap, completing 427 laps in a single day.

K Car Global is certainly one of the most unique motorsports experiences in Malaysia. It gives an interesting second life to some of the most popular cars (i.e. Peroduas) on the road. For this endurance race, having the need for speed isn't really a must, just a peppy little car with lots of determination inside.

Also read: Cheaper than karting? Start your racing career with a Proton Saga race car from as low as RM 10k!