SO much has happened in the motor racing scene locally since my last article. Last year was definitely an interesting year for the local motorsport scene, so lets kick it off with a short recap of the 2013 race season and how it would pave the way for the future of motorsports in Malaysia.
Malaysian Rally Championship
A slight turn of events at the Malaysian Rally Championship last year with Karamjit Singh losing the overall 2 Wheel Drive (2WD) title to his team mate Kenneth Koh from Team Proton R3. Karamjit Singh started the season strong but was plagued with mechanical issues at the last two rounds of the 2013 championship, allowing Kenneth Koh to inch his way forward and become the youngest Malaysian to win the 2WD championship. Kenneth Koh trains under the wing of Karamjit Singh and has come a long way in terms of driver development. We might be looking at the future of rallying here.
The 2014 Malaysian racing season officially begun with Round One of the Malaysian Rally Championship held at Manjung Perak, on March 15 and 16. It was a great kick off to the season with Malaysian Karamjit Singh from Team Proton R3 winning the 2WD 1600cc category and third overall in the rally trailing closely behind faster 4WD rally cars. Kenneth Koh finished a strong third.
Malaysian Touring Car Championship
The Malaysian Touring Car Championship 2013 season was not short of excitement either. The overall speed and pace of the competing teams increased round after round, gaining two seconds per lap by the end of the season. Team Proton R3 ran away with the overall championship title again in 2013 making it the third championship in a row for Proton in the hands of Syafiq Ali. The year 2013 was definitely the biggest year so far for the Malaysian Touring Car Series as we had the largest number of teams and participants committing to the series. Top local talents such as Aaron Lim – Malaysia's A1GP driver, Farriz Fauzy and Eddie Liew – Team Honda Malaysia, Lai Wee Seng and myself to name a few who have always been behind the scenes pushing the level of Malaysian circuit racing adding excitement and close racing throughout the season. The 2014 season will be even stronger with Team Honda Malaysia racing confirming their participation in the Malaysian Touring Car series. Team Honda Malaysia won the Sepang 1000KM Race last year, making them the second factory team to win the race after Team Proton R3's 1-2 finish in 2012. Battles will be intense and I believe the championship is open for the taking.
Saturday Night Fever Series by Ignition.my
At a grassroot level, Ignition.my has also expanded their Saturday Night Fever Series to cater for the growing level of enthusiasts wanting to race. They just had round one of their series earlier this year and also developed a new time attack format which will run on many go-karting facilities around Peninsular Malaysia. This is a perfect platform to nurture new talent for our national series be it rallying or circuit racing.
Formula Drift
Moving on to the sport of drift, 2013 was announced as the final year of Formula Drift Malaysia. Formula Drift Asia 2014 will now comprise of Thailand, Australia, and Japan. The only Southeast Asian round to remain is Thailand. This is definitely the biggest blow to the sport domestically; it spells the end of the five-year Formula Drift Asia relationship with Malaysia. It is a shame especially when drifting in Southeast Asia actually kicked off with Malaysia being the first country to hold a professional drifting competition under the banner of the Japanese brand, D1 Grand Prix back in 2006. We have seen a rapid growth of the sport competitively starting 2002 but recently there has been a decline in attendance, competitors, events and sponsorship. The success rate of the sport was positive in the past couple of years, but somehow it has not been able to hold the growth rate which has resulted in the down turn of the sport in Malaysia.
Nevertheless, both national rallying and circuit racing is strong and growth is positive with a good number of events spanned out throughout 2014 from rallying and circuit racing to grassroot level motorsports. Don't forget to cheer on our local talents and heroes at all international and national stages, especially the guys racing in the Malaysian Touring Car Championship.
TENGKU DJAN
PRINCE OF DRIFT
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