Heaping praises on the two-year old series, Azman proposed that the series’ organisers – the Youth and Sports Ministry (KBS) and Motorsports Association of Malaysia (MAM), take immediate initiatives to build the event further and to pull in more partners in the interest of motorsports development in the country.
“We have found the momentum and it’s only logical that we build on the momentum. It’s time to put in bigger plans and more efforts. I think we all agree that the KBS MAM Kapcai Endurance National Championship is a great event. We also see that the event has already been embraced by the motorcycle racing community.
“It can only grow bigger. I believe everybody at Sepang Circuit last Saturday (January 11) would totally agree with me. We should develop the event more for the future of the sports. It is a very good platform for generating interest at the grassroot and to unearth new talents,” added Azman, who is also the personal manager and father to promising young talent, 14-year old Mohammad Helmi.
In a team of three riders, Helmi, who was joined by 18-year olds Muhammad Hafiza Rofa and Muhammad Syafiq Rasol, won the open class and the overall honours; beating another team of teenagers – JDT 27 Racing Team, featuring siblings Muhammad Adam Noroddin, 16, and his 14-year old brother, Muhammad Ibrahim.
In a four-hour contest of non-stop racing around the 5548-meter MotoGP track, the race started with an impressive grid of 110 underbone bikes, with the participation of more than 300 riders. They are divided into four classes – Class 1 for bikes under 100cc, Class 2 for bikes under 120cc, Class 3 for bikes under 150cc and an open class, with pitted the sensational teenagers with some of the country’s top riders like Abdul Muhaimin Roslan and Mohd Fazlin Mohd Noor, who had to be contended with third placing for the class and long established racing teams like the MOTUL Yamaha YY Pang Racing Team.
The race was flagged off by Youth and Sports Minister, Khairy Jamaluddin, who declared the ministry’s commitment for the programme in support of youth development and combating illegal racing amongst the youth.
Azman said: “I have only praises for the event and the organisers. They had managed to make the event very affordable for the regular ‘kapcai’ owners while making it exciting and appealing to aspiring riders.
“The event is proof that Malaysia has a huge pool of young racing talents. What they need is only opportunity and a career path opened to them. The KBS MAM Kapcai Championship has offered the door and opened the path for those who want to make motor racing as a full-time career.
For 2014, Malaysia would also have four riders in the MotoGP World Championship – Zulfahmi and Amirul Hafiq Azmi in Moto3, and Azlan Shah Kamaruzaman and Hafizh Syahrin Abdullah, who finished third overall in last year’s Spanish Championship, in Moto2.
The KBS-MAM Kapcai Endurance is a project developed by Motorsports Association of Malaysian (MAM) with full support from the Ministry of Youth and Sports with an aim to eradicate illegal racing and develop healthy activities for the youngster.
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