SEPANG – Professional racing driver Alex Yoong said Malaysia can enter a golden period for touring car racing – only if the stakeholders make the right moves.
The 46-year-old, the only Malaysian to have driven in Formula One, is taking part in Round 2 of the Malaysia Championship Series (MCS) at the Sepang International Circuit (SIC) this weekend.
The series will this year see its highest number of entries since 2002, boasting 54 cars from four categories.
“If the Motorsports Association of Malaysia (MAM), Sepang International Circuit, and the Youth and Sports Ministry make the right moves, we should come into a golden period for touring car racing here in Malaysia.
“I mean, we already know bikes are good with Cub Prix and MotoGP, but local four-wheel motorsports have been neglected for a long time.
“And when I say make the right moves, that does not mean bring in money.
“They just need to put together the right competitions and support the right drivers,” said the former Minardi F1 driver.
Alex also lauded the MCS, but said changes were needed to improve the series.
“The MCS is a fantastic base, it is oversubscribed, but we need to split the categories... the 2-litre cars should not be running with the 1.6-litre cars.
“They put them together years ago because at that time there were not enough cars, so they had to combine the two classes, but now we are oversubscribed again.
“The interest is high, a lot of new young drivers (are) coming into the sport, so it is time to split the classes,” said Alex, who also represented Malaysia in the A1 Grand Prix series.
The veteran of the Malaysian motorsports scene has been to the pinnacle of the sport, having raced in F1 from 2001 until 2002.
But he still finds time to compete in local series like MCS, and when asked about this, Alex said it was important to support local races.
“For me, there is no point to keep racing anymore – but it is very important to show support for the local motorsports scene. As I said, local and national motorsports have been neglected for years.
“We were always chasing F1, but a lot of new young blood (is) coming into the sport now, so we need to support them.
“And the local teams are getting better actually so it is important to support them and do a lot more grassroots racing.
“We try to bring drivers from e-sports to real-life racing like Naquib Azlan.
“Now we need to make it more cost-effective, so more people can come into the sport,” he said.
Alex added that interest in motorsports is high with the success of the Netflix series Drive to Survive, which gave fans a view behind the curtain of F1 – the top level of motorsport – through the eyes of drivers and teams.
“Motorsports is fun, like I said, it is now down to MAM, SIC and (the Youth and Sports Ministry) to make the right moves,” he said. – The Vibes, June 24, 2023
