Putting the lost 'F1 dream' to good use, elsewhere
ARNAZ M. KHAIRUL
SHAH ALAM - For over two decades, Malaysia produced a line of promising young karters, all projected towards the dream of making it to Formula 1.
But two decades down the road history lists just one Malaysian Formula 1 driver in Alex Yoong and two who made it as far as test drivers in Fairuz Fauzy and Jazeman Jaafar.
The rest burned millions chasing the dream, with few even remaining in the sport beyond the years as development drivers, some merely keeping it up as hobbyists.
Hardly mentioned among the success stories beyond careers as development drivers, is Afiq Ikhwan Yazid.
Now at 32, the Kajang resident was between 2008 and 2013, one of Malaysia's most promising karters and single-seater prospects. Now he is arguably Malaysia's top ranked sports car driver and best of all, he is being well paid to do so as a professional.
Having won the Rotax Mx Challenge Asian Championship in 2010, before graduating to single-seaters where he battled the likes of Nabil Jan Al-Jeffri for the Formula BMW Asia Series and JK Racing Asia Series titles, finishing ahead of his compatriot and second in the championship in 2011 and third in 2012, before moving to China for the Asian Formula Masters, in which he finished second in the 2013 championship.
But unlike other prospects like Jazeman and Nabil, who moved to Europe in search of paths to Formula 1, Afiq decided early on that the bills wouldn't be paid in such pursuits.
"It was not like that for me. I had to be realistic and look at how to build a future for myself in motorsports and this is the path I chose," said Afiq, now preparing for a new season with the PSC Motorsport team's Huracan in the Lamborghini Super Trofeo Asia series, a five-round campaign which begins at the Sepang Circuit on May 5-7, before going to Adelaide in Australia, Fuji Speedway in Japan, Everland Speedway in South Korea and ending in Shanghai in September.
"Since graduating from the Asian Formula Masters I focused on developing my career as a professional driver in the Super Trofeo series and it has been good to me," said Afiq, who has four Super Trofeo Asia titles and one Super Trofeo world championship title under his belt.
"In those years, it was not only about the results, but I have built good relationships with teams from Hong Kong, Thailand and Japan, which compete in the Super Trofeo and other sportscar series. I've also competed in the Japanese Super Taikyu Series, Super GT and Le Mans LMP2 class, so you can see there is a market to develop your career as a professional sportscar driver and not just go all in for Formula 1," he said, adding that most of his duties had come with foreign teams.
The Kuala Lumpur-born said that too often previously Malaysians had put too much emphasis on Formula 1 because it was the dream being flashed before their eyes through the government's interest.
"To get to F1, you know it takes a lot of money. There needs to be the commitment and support, from the corporate sector and from the government. As we saw with our two previous drivers (Fairuz and Jazeman) they had gone through the whole development and were on the doorstep of F1. Right there, they were among the best in GP and the World Series and yet that extra bit of support, that final push for them to get into F1 did not come and that was that," said Afiq.
"Does that not make you think that there should be much more that can be achieved with the talent we have than just looking at Formula 1?"
That brought Afiq to his current occupation and the decision was not a difficult one to make.
"How do I find myself as a professional driver? Firstly, it is about getting paid to drive. It isn't like in single-seaters where drivers need to bring in the sponsors to pay the team or cover the costs, then spend the whole development career right up to F1 doing that and only start to get paid once you are in one of the top teams in F1," he said.
He urged young Malaysian drivers to stop directing their career paths solely towards Formula 1 and look at the vast options available in world motorsports.
"Many Malaysian karters' dreams are to drive in Formula 1. They get into the sport with that sole purpose. to make it to Formula 1. This is wrong," said Afiq.
"Motorsport is big. It is much more than Formula 1. You can do single-seater series, touring cars or GT cars and the scope is huge, as many countries in Europe, the Americas and Asia have their own series for these various classes of racing. You can go and build your careers there, especially with a background of being a development driver from karting up to junior classes of single-seaters.
"This makes this a specialised skill and you need to make all those years investing in motorsports worth it," said Afiq.
While Europe was the preferred destination for aspiring young drivers, Afiq also reminded them that he had won a world title in the Super Trofeo Series as the Asian champion.
"People should see that motorsports in Asia is growing steadily and with that comes more opportunities. The best part of being a professional driver is that I am independent, not tied to one team, one series or nation. I can go anywhere. Like a professional footballer, a team offers a contract and if I feel it is suitable, I sign and play for them. In this case, drive for them," said Afiq.
