SEPANG: Former Formula One driver Alex Yoong has stressed the need to make motorsports more accessible to Malaysians.
Alex said bringing down the costs of competing in motorsports was important to ensure that Malaysia does not fall behind when compared to its Southeast Asian peers.
"On one hand we have countries such as Thailand, Philippines and Indonesia where their motorsports (industry) is going up (developing) but then we have Malaysia, which has been stuck for the past 20 years," said Alex when met at Sepang Circuit today.
"When compared to our neighbours, (involvement in) motorsports is relatively cheap here.
"But the fact is, it is still expensive for Malaysians so we need to find ways to make it cheaper.
"I believe to bring the costs down, you need to have partners involved in the sport, you need sponsors. Racing teams need sponsors and racing series (organisers) both need sponsors.
"But to do so, the product (championships) needs to be good enough to warrant sponsorship.
"It (championships) needs to be packaged in a way that is easy for fans to understand, at the moment that is not the case.
"We need to spend time building stories and showcasing our talent because we do have some very good drivers."
The 47-year-old is currently competing in the Malaysia Championship Series (MCS), which is the nation's premier touring car competition.
He is leading the SP2 V class driving an almost stock-standard Suzuki Swift which he also uses to train motorsports newcomers via his driving academy, Axle Sports.
"I am competing in MCS because I haven't raced a car since 2018 and was starting to itch for some fun," jested Alex.
"But the main reason is actually to show people that you can still compete and win using a relatively slow car.
"This is the same car we (Axle Sports) use to train our drivers, we call it the 'school car'. It has leaky dampers but can still reel-off two minute and 45 second laps (at Sepang) easily.
"We just want to show people that it is not all about the car. You have to learn to drive and then learn to race."
Alex urged those interested in taking up motorsports to get a grasp of the fundamentals using simulators, which are cheaper to get into, before moving on to the real thing.
"We (Axle Sports) have packages for simulator courses that start from RM1,200 for 10 lessons, using our equipment," he added.
"For a one-day track coaching session using our Swift Z31 'school car' it costs about RM6,000 which includes full coaching, video analysis and (lap) data. Unfortunately racing is not cheap."