Malaysian sports car minnow Bufori's new sports coupe, the BMS R1, made its promised debut at the Macau GT Cup - in race guise - on Sunday.
Racing against an epic 32-car grid made up mainly of Aston Martins, Ferraris, Porsches and Lambos, we'd love to report a 'David slays Goliath' story for the brand's hand-made GT3-homologated effort. Sadly, what actually happened was a 28th place start, followed by a retirement just four laps later.
In an admirably stoic statement to the press, Bufori spoke optimistically about the performance of the BMS R1, the racing car that Bufori's upcoming CS road car will be based on. It points out that, by the end of the first lap, the R1 and driver Alex Yoong had already passsed five cars, and the untimely departure of his car from the race was caused by a piece of track debris jamming the throttle during an overtaking manoeuvre.
BMS team principal and CEO Joe Lim insists that the experience was a worthwhile one: "Although we only completed four laps, the race experience has provided the team with a lot of useful data. Whether in the development of the CS road car or the BMS R1 race car, it will be a great help."
While the race was eventually won by a Lamborghini Gallardo GT3, Bufori remains optimistic and is already signed up to enter the Asian GT Masters series next year. Meanwhile, the CS road car will make its debut at the Beijing Auto Show in April 2010.
For a full list of the exotic machinery the Bufori was up against, click the link to look at the race results from Macau.