MERITUS.GP is a championship-winning International motorsport team. Based in Asia for the last 25 years and owned by a Malaysian company, the team’s passion is creating international motorsport heroes. Before expanding to Asia in 1995, MERITUS manufactured the first ever Irish sports car, the TMC Costin, and created a winning European heritage. The team now hold 36 FIA Asian titles, winning at every level of the sport under Formula 1 (F4, F3, F2).
Since winning their first Asian championship in 1996 with Narain Karthikeyan – who went on to become India’s first F1 driver – MERITUS.GP have been dedicated to developing Asian talent and are now clearly focused on strategically positioning their brands to cover every sector of the industry in order to realise their future mission:
To train highly skilled young sporting and professional talent as part of a programme to develop an Asian Autosport Ecosystem, creating manufacturing, training, media and sponsorship business in the region.
To facilitate this the team focus on four main areas of expertise:
Engineering
MERITUS have a winning heritage and have developed a platform of key motorsport services:
Engineering
Leading European Chief Engineers and winning race engineers to ensure performance
Mechanics
Dedicated no. 1 mechanics supported by dependable technicians to ensure reliability
Coaching
Winning driver coaches and fitness instructors to maximize potential
Training
Training programs to create highly skilled professionals across motorsport disciplines
International Motorsport Heroes
MERITUS are passionate about creating international motorsport heroes and the team has been a stepping stone for ten F1 drivers, two Indy 500 winners and two 24H LeMans winners
Takuma
Sato
Won Indy 500
Narain
Karthikeyan
Formula 1
Ricardo
Rosset
Formula 1
Vincenzo
Sospri
Formula 1
Anthony
Reid
BTCC
Jazeman
Jaafar
Formula 1
Rio
Haryanto
Formula 1
Earl
Bamber
Won 24H LeMans
Luca
Filippi
Formula 1
Alexander
Rossi
Won Indy 500
Ho-Pin
Tung
Won 24H LeMans
Alex
Yoong
Formula 1
Winning History
Since expanding to Asia 25 years ago MERITUS has accumilated 36 FIA Asian titles, winning at every level of the sport under Formula 1 (F4, F3, F2):
Organisation
Following the end of the GP2 Asia Series and realising the void left by Formula BMW, MERITUS changed their focus from running teams to organising championships, with the goal of working with youth in the region to develop skills and talent in the industry.
Noting the key issue experienced by all young drivers in the sport, MERITUS created their ‘ONE Concept’ to ensure a cost-effective and equal platform to transition drivers from karting to single seater careers
One Team
All engineering services provided by MERITUS.GP
One Make
All drivers use the same car, to create an equal field
One Track
All races at one track to minimise logistic costs
One Data
Open data to ensure equality and facilitate learning
One Cost
Everyone pays the same and no-one can buy an advantage
One Dream
To reach the pinnacle of motorsport!
Championships
Utilsing the ONE concept, MERITUS organised the AsiaCup Series, based at the Sepang F1 Circuit. The series utilized the FB02 race car from Formula BMW, which the team had worked with during the previous decade, and engineered it into a reliable machine for transitioning junior karters.
The series ran for three years and trained 70+ drivers; the FIA rewarded this success by upgrading the team to organise Formula 4 South East Asia.
The AsiaCup Series was based at Sepang and transitioned 70+ drivers over 3 years while working with local colleges to develop careers.
Noting the success of AsiaCup the FIA awarded the rights to F4 South East Asia to MERITUS, who adapted the ONE concept to a zone championship.
Formula 4 Success
The team initiated a good thing with their ONE concept and have already found success with many drivers moving on to bigger and better things:
Jake
Parsons
Japanese F3
Nikita
Mazepin
Formula 2
Gabriel
Aubry
LMP2
Colton
Herta
IndyCar
Arjun
Maini
Formula 2
Jordan
Love
Carrera Cup
Presley
Martono
MRF
Danial
Frost
IndyCar
Ugo
De Wilde
Formula 3
Daniel
Cao
Formula 3
Nazim
Azman
Formula 3
Alessandro
Ghiretti
Formula 3
Hadrian
David
Formula 3
Manufacturing
MERITUS started off in Ireland forty years ago, where the first Irish sports car was produced by the Thompson brothers during the 1980’s at their family home.
The TMC Costin was designed by Frank Costin and built by Val, Peter, Sean and Anthony, before the project was sold to Danny Panoz in 1988, creating the now-famous Panoz Automotive.
In 1995 Peter Thompson met with Danny’s father Don, and convinced him to build an endurance car for Le Mans; Panoz went on to win Le Mans and Indy 500 four times as a constructor.
Since then the team has been focused on results on the track, but they have never forgotten their manufacturing roots, working to improve the reliability and performance of the racecars, while partnering with OEM’s in the region to develop specialised motorsport products.
With the success of the team’s championships MERITUS are now looking to become more involved in the production of the next generation of single-seater race cars in Asia.
Activation
Winning is business – a business that creates the ideal platform for networking and activating winning partnerships. The team’s sponsorship partners are the driving force behind our success and MERITUS has developed key areas to maximise their ROI:
Networking
Utilizing events as focal points to realise business and opportunities, while motivating existing contacts and rewarding performance
Streaming & TV
All races are livestreamed on Facebook with full graphics and commentary, then televised on FOX Sports 3 to 7,728,230 households
Media campaign
Comprehensive social media and print campaign, modelled after the Formula 1 programme, boosted to maximise reach
