Harimau

Harimau is a motorsport team based in Sepang, Malaysia. They compete in the Formula Racing League.

## Racing History

### Formula B

#### Renault engines (FRL03)

Harimau was one of the eleven founding members of the FRL Formula B expansion in FRL03. Their first chassis was named the "MT 3000." The entire FB grid was supplied by the same Renault engines.

Borys Zozulya and Ferrau Mousseau were named drivers for the team. Borys had driven for Awal in FRL02 but was sacked with six races to go. Ferrau had driven the prior two seasons with Ducklings.

The team started the season rapidly. Harimau and Ferrau Mousseau hold the distinction of being the innagural Formula B winners. The team followed that up with three consecutive double podium finishes. The team wasn't immune to mechanical issues or driver errors, but Harimau fended off challenges from the other FB teams. At the FRL03 German Grand Prix with three races to spare, the team confirmed their promotion to Formula A, the first team to be promoted under the new FRL restructure. The team ended the season 1st with 411 points, and Borys Zozulya 1st in the Championship, with teammate Ferrau behind in 2nd.

### Formula A

#### Ford engines (FRL04)

Preparations for the 04 season began whilst the team was still in FB. The team needed to find an engine supplier. Even as the team celebrated their promotion in Germany, the Awal and Harimau bosses agreed in principal to be customers for Chevrolet on long term contracts. However, the league announced new engine regulations for FRL05, so any teams in need of an engine for 04 were restricted to 1-year contracts. Therfore, Harimau signed with Ford, who made the strongest engines on the grid at the time.

Harimau did not continue with Pirelli as tire supplier, instead going to Michelin.

As for drivers, the team rejected renewing the contracts for Borys and Ferrau; Borys was deemed too expensive (despite an eleventh-hour bid) and Ferrau too old. The team announced an experienced driver lineup of Michael Howarth and Kristian Gottlieb, however, after Brendan Maguire's sudden availability during the off-season, multiple teams, including Harimau, proceeded to buyout the contracts of one of their drivers to pursue the star Irish driver. Ultimately, the game of driver caroussel ended with Maguire joining TVR, and Harimau picked up Sabanstev Valentinovich to drive alongside Howarth. They would drive the Harimau "MT 04A."

Harimau scored points in their opening three FA races, albeit in the lower regions of the points positions. A double points scoring race in Singapore Round 6 was the last time the team scored points for five races until Howarth's P8 finish in Belgium, followed by another double points scoring race in Hungary. The team ended their first FA season 9th with 21 points. There wasn't a threat of relegation, as their nearest rivals TF Sport were far off them, and Ryan went into administration and scored 0 points, filling the relegation spot automatically.

#### Chevrolet engines (FRL05-07)

Now named Harimau Racing, they signed long-term supplier deals in preperation for FRL05, returning to Pirelli tires for 3 seasons, and signing with Chevrolet for 3 seasons as engine supplier. The teams driver lineup also went unchanged, even though team bosses floated the idea of buying out one of their drivers to pursue emerging driver Kimi Samurakami. The chassis name broke with tradition, dropping "MT" and was named the "05A-3."

The teams performance took a hit this season. In the first half of the season, Harimau scored 2 points, 7 points less than the season prior. What saved the team from potential relegation was an 8th place finish in Germany Round 14, and a double points finish the next race in Italy, with Michael taking a season high 7th place finish. They finished the season 9th with 16 points. Porsche also had 16 points but finished below in 10th because of average positioning. Chevrolet was relegated, 8 points behind Harimau and Porsche.

Ahead of FRL06, Michael Howarth was not renewed for future seasons, so Harimau Racing Denis Naboko, a driver competing in Formula D Europe the season prior, finishing 4th. The cars name returned to it's traditional naming system, with "MT 6000."

On debut, Naboko took a P11 finish, but the team did not score any points for the entire first half of the season. They sat in the relegation zone the entire first half of the season. But a herculean effort in South Africa Round 9 saw Naboko finish P8, and Sabanstev P9. Those 6 crucial points moved the team out of the relegation zone. Harimau Racing only scored twice more that season, but it was enough to stave off relegation, with Mercedes-AMG getting relegated.

Ahead of FRL07, Sabanstev Valentinovich was not renewed for future seasons. His relationship with Noah-Joel Petersen could be best described as lukewarm. In what was seen as a cost-cutting measure, Harimau Racing signed Japanese driver Nakama Waka, a cult favourite amongst fans, but a driver with questionable racing skills. Their car this year was named "MT 7000."

Denis Naboko retired from three consecutive races, whilst Nakama Waka finished P11 thrice. However, in the remaining 5 races before the halfway point of the season, the team accumulated 21 points, with Denis getting a career high P5, and Nakama Waka securing a P10 and P9 finish, his only points finishes of the season. In the second half of the season, Harimau Racing only managed 4 points, and fell away from the midfield fight. The teams final position was 9th with 26 points, a team record high their Formula A history. Royal Panasonic finished 1 point below Harimau Racing in P10, and Lotus were relegated.

#### Return to Renault engines (FRL08-09)

MotoRL biker Jonny Mullins did a private test with Harimau at Sepang International Circuit. There was mutual interest from both driver and team, and Jonny Mullins was signed on a long-term 3 season contract, becoming the first driver to switch from motorcyles to single seater cars. Together with Naboko, they drove the "MT 8000."

Some time after the global pandemic shutdown, the FRL returned under a new structure and Harimau confirmed their participation soon after. The team eventually announced their reunion with Renault. Renault had returned to the FRL this time supplying engines for both tiers.

In FRL09, Harimau enjoyed their best season to-date. They finished 4th in the Constructors Standings on 401 points. 2 podiums came their way that season, one for Naboko and one for Mullins. At the tenth round, Harimau introduced their final car upgrades of the season before focusing development on their FRL10 car. Afterwards the teams pace dropped slightly, with teams such as Alfa Romeo and Neon Motorsport qualifying ahead of them. However, because of Harimau's points haul in the first half of the season, the team was able to maintain 4th position by a large margin over the teams behind.

## Team Colours

The teams original colours involved a bold blue and red.

For FRL05, the car was painted black with tiger stripes, to resemble a tiger.

From FRL06-07, the car was repainted orange with Petronas blue colouring.

From FRL08 onwards, the team reverted to blue and red, this time more tamer in colour and not as bold. The original plan was to be repainted entirely with Petronas colouring and branding, but this never materialized.

## Name History

"Harimau" is the word for tiger in the Malay language. In most cases, the name of the Harimau race cars begin with "MT," MT meaning 'Malaysian Tiger."

Staring in FRL05, the team was renamed to "Harimau Racing" to distinguish themselves easier as a racing team.

The team was supposed to enter as "Petronas Harimau" in part of a naming rights deal ahead of FRL08, but the deal was eventually called off. So for FRL08, the team reverted back to their original name.