Meet the Team

Team Personnel

David Wong, Team Principal

First took the PETRONAS name into Touring Car and Superbike racing in 1990 and immediately established his team as the regional pacesetters in Asia. Over the following decade, Team PETRONAS achieved over eighty wins including dominant performances as far a field as Australia, New Zealand, China, Korea, United Kingdom and South Africa. David’s considerable experience in, and exposure to, world standard motorsport has meant that Team PETRONAS has always fielded current, works-level technology and equipment supported by leaders in their field. Having established his credentials in domestic racing, David Wong’s Team PETRONAS began its truly global campaign from 1999 to 2001 with Team PETRONAS Syntium Opel in South Africa. Thereafter from-scratch in house development of the Malaysian standard-bearing Proton Impian/Waja to compete in the British Touring Cars Championship from 2002 to 2004 and Asian Touring Cars Championship from 2005 to 2006.

Gen Suzuki, Team Manager

A business associate of more than 15 years, Gen Suzuki draws from his vast experience as the Team coordinator of "Trust" in its Porsche 962 program. They raced in the 1980s in Le Mans, IMSA and Japanese Sportcar Championship. Gen also managed Porsche 964, 993, 996 GT3 and GT3 RSR in Japan Super GT300 Championships since 1996. Gen has since been supporting Team PETRONAS with the Honda Civic and Nissan Pulsar programs in both the Asian Touring Car Championship and Malaysia’s premier endurance race – the Merdeka Millennium Endurance race. Gen also served as the Team Manager in 1999 in Pusan Korea where Team PETRONAS participated and won the Asian Class with the Nissan Pulsar in the Super Taikyu invitational race. As Team Manager of PETRONAS SYNTIUM TEAM in the Super Taikyu Endurance Series, he brings with him a wealth of experience and circuit knowledge.

Tetsuo Suzuki, Race Director

A legend in Japanese Touring Car Racing, Tetsuo Suzuki is also known as the icon of the Super Taikyu Endurance Series, having won more races and championships than anybody else. He is also a legendary car designer and engineer in his own right. As the equivalent to BMW Motorsport or Prodrive in Japan, he also holds the manufacturer contracts to design, build and race for Honda and Nissan to name a few. The most famous of them all are the Nissan Skylines that were so dominant, winning everything for more than a decade, dominating the Japanese racing scene from 1990 to 2004. Tetsuo has in recent years managed the works Falken Nissan Skyline racing team that won the prestigious Super Taikyu Endurance Series from 1999 to 2004. He was also responsible for bringing the Nissan Skyline to the Nürburgring 24 Hours Endurance race from 2000 onwards, winning the accord of the highest placed Japanese team at the event.

Tetsuo Suzuki also supported Team PETRONAS with the Nissan Pulsar program since 1998, helping the team win the Asian Class in 1999 Super Taikyu Invitational race in Pusan Korea. As Race Director, Tetsuo brings over 30 years of experience in Japanese racing to the PETRONAS SYNTIUM TEAM in its pursuit of success with the BMW Z4 M Coupe.

Andy Poon, Logistics Manager and Driver Trainer

Andy's experience in motorsports, particularly in Asia, extends back more than thirty years. He has been with Team PETRONAS from the team’s participation in the British and Asian Touring Car Championships, and now to the Super Taikyu Endurance Series. Andy is very experienced and innovative and will be tasked to handle all logistics arrangements as well as driver training for the PETRONAS SYNTIUM TEAM.

Niklas Thomassen, Technical Engineer

As the Technical Engineer to the team, Niklas brings with him a wealth of experience in touring cars. He has previously worked with the British Touring Car Championship winning Nissan Primeras in the 1990s, before his move to DTM with Opel and then to a BMW team in Sweden from 2002. His experience also includes his work in the European and World Touring Car Championship up to 2005 with the BMW 320. In 2006, he worked on the latest BMW 320Si in the Swedish Touring Car Championship. As an experienced technical engineer in BMW racing cars, his familiarity and experience with its operations will be a valuable asset to the team as it embarks on its challenge in the Super Taikyu Endurance Series.