Tuesday 17 December 2013

future of motorsports in Malaysia

The future of motorsports seem very bleak in Malaysia with numerous events calling it quits after 2013. The Super GT from Japan had its last event in 2013 with the organiser losing more than USD1 million, the Formula Drift Asia is also destined to end since the 2013 event was rained out and the organizer was not paid the sponsorship money causing the company to close down. The KL International motorshow also did not perform well with 6 car manufacturers missing from the event. Some of the reasons why the events have come to an end is to do with the cost of organizing the event where Sepang F1 track owner (SIC) charging a large sum for certain event making it not financially feasible for organizers to hold events that can make any profit.

Speedcity in the south of KL has also closed down bringing an end to a drift venue for grassroots drifters to practice and compete. 

The Youth and Sport Ministry which is suppose to be in charge of motorsports has done nothing for motorsports. The KL Motopark which was suppose to be a scaled down race track meant for circuit racing and drifting had the ground breaking ceremony many years ago but nothing has happened since then. It is unsure if the project ground to a halt due to political reasons or someone has siphoned off the money.

Malaysia is in need of 2 more small tracks with about 3km in length that is suitable for touring car racing capacity. A track similar to that of Tsukuba in Japan will suffice and encourage the development of motorsports in Malaysia and also keep the street racers of the city streets. Motorsports fans are yearning for more events and would like to see the development of the motorsports industry. There is definitely no shortage of motorsports fans but due to limited venue and events, it seems like the future of motorsports is remain bleak for the foreseeable future.

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