Fear of no races raises stress level of motorsports fraternity

PETALING JAYA: The motorsports fraternity hope the government can provide some leeway which will allow them to resume some races as the livelihood of more than 3,000 people are at stake.

Safe Aim Mutual (SAM) Sdn Bhd, the promoter of the Malaysian Cub Prix Championship and Malaysia Speed Festival (MSF), are concerned about the restrictions imposed by the National Security Council (NSC) and Healthy Ministry pertaining to event organisation when the movement control order (MCO) is lifted.

The fear that there will be no races for the rest of the year is real as health director-general Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah had indicated earlier this month that mass gatherings will continue to be banned even after the MCO.

SAM managing director Ron Hogg and MSF principal Adian Yein Khalid said calling off their respective local circuits is not an option as more than 3,000 people directly involved in the industry will be severely affected.

The Malaysian Cub Prix Championship, which runs from March to November, consists of 10 races while the MSF Championship annual calendar features MSF Super Turismo and MSF Superbike.

“At this moment we remain positive that we can continue racing for the year.

“The sponsors are still with us and we’re grateful for their continuous support in these tough times, ” said Ron in a joint online press conference with MSF and former Formula One driver Alex Yoong.

“That’s why the show must go on as we need to fulfil our obligations.

“The local motorsports industry is privately run with the backing of the sponsors. We hope the government will cut us some slack.

“Unlike other sports, our events are operated on a totally different level. Even if we cut the numbers to a bare minimum, there will be over 500 people just at the paddock itself.

“And if we’re to add in auxiliary staff such as the TV guys and medical personnel, we have close to 1,000 people.

“If we practise social distancing at Sepang (International Circuit), I think it’s quite achievable.”

Adian, meanwhile, believes more can be done instead of just focusing on international events such as the Formula One and MotoGP.

Recently appointed SIC chief executive officer Azhan Shafriman Hanif did not rule out the possibility of restaging Formula One in the future after it was last hosted in 2017.

“There’s no point having the big events here if we can’t keep our local industry alive, ” he stressed.

“Hopefully, the government will allow us to run the races behind closed doors and we will make sure we comply with the guidelines.”

Alex described the situation faced by the local motorsports scene as “fragile”.

“It’s a fragile moment. Ron and Adian have two of the biggest motorsport organisations in terms of entries and they hire a lot of people.

“We need to try to support it otherwise there’s a chance it would disappear.

“We need to keep bringing in new blood into the sport.”