Honing his racing skills as early as the age of 8, Amer Harris Jefry spends a lot of time on the go-kart circuit. He is now one of the rising racers with many local and international successes.
Although go-kart is not a key sport in this country, it still has its own challenges and Amer started to become a professional racer from the age of 11 in 2014 through participation throughout the region.
Since then, Amer has been involved in Asian level races such as RotaxAsia Max, X30 SEA, RokCup and AKOC. He became the champion in 2016 for Malaysia and Asia.
"I was encouraged a lot by my father who is also interested in the world of motoring. Since childhood, I often followed him to the racetrack. Seeing him race in the Saga Cup made me want to follow in his footsteps.
"Starting at the go-kart circuit, I learned to operate this machine and as time went by it grew on me and I continued that interest until now," he said.
After standing out with his driving talent and emerging as a champion, Amer received many invitations from clubs. One of the earliest was DRM Motorsport (Nizra Motorsport). He later joined the Sodi Factory team from Italy in 2021.
His talent also opened up opportunities for him to train and race in Europe, allowing him to compete with the go-kart racers there in a more competitive competition.
"Participation in the KZ category is very challenging, not only the race itself. Operating a six-speed manual machine that can reach speeds of up to 160km/h is more difficult than an F1 racing machine.
"But that was the best platform for me to hone my talent to become a more experienced racer with racing skills, besides the coaches there who helped a lot to make my racing career grow," he said.
Amer is now focused on car racing following the opportunity to become a Rookie Toyota Gazoo Racing driver who emerged as runner-up in 2021.
Acting as a driver for the local Wing Hin Motorsport team since 2023, he won the Sepang 1000Km Endurance Race (S1K) with Muhammad Nabil Azlan in the same year, driving a Toyota Yaris.
Amer will have the opportunity to participate in races in Thailand Super Series 2024 and Super Taikyu Series 2025 in Japan with a Toyota GR Supra GT4.
Amer is often "grabbed" by local vehicle clubs and workshops as their driver either to test racing machines or race on circuits across the country. This is especially so for the "Time Attack" event.
"Every time I participate in a racing event, I only see the same faces racing together almost every year. I hope many new faces will emerge to add colour to the local motorsports.
"Undoubtedly the cost factor plays a role in getting involved in motorsports. But should there be better space and opportunity, many teams will certainly participate," said Amer, who aspires to be a driver for a Japanese Super GT team.
Amer is also talented in video recording and photography, and has a company specialising on the services.