Show proof that postponing marriages will birth a better MotoGP racer - Critic asks former racing circuit CEO

SHAH ALAM - A sports critic hits back at Sepang International Circuit former CEO Datuk Ahmad Razlan Ahmad Razali, for espousing the notion that MotoGP racers need to put nuptial plans on hold, if they want to make it big in motorcycle racing.

The critic also a seasoned sports journalist, Arnaz M. Khairul, rebuked Razlan’s conjecture -- which had gone viral among those in the motosports community -- arguing that it was not only baseless but devoid of any science to back it up.

“Razlan should first provide proof in the form of riders that he has managed to bring from the backwaters of Malaysian motorcycle racing all the way to MotoGP by way of which they adhered to his advice to postpone their marriage to focus on commitment to such programmes.

“There is no such evidence available and Razlan himself has been coming up with such statements, quite likely to divert attention from his own failures,” Arnaz said.

According to him, Razlan was in no position to criticise the landscape of Malaysia’s motorcycle racing landscape, given the latter’s failure to uplift it despite being given millions of ringgit and ample time to develop it.

“Petronas had bankrolled the Petronas Sepang Racing Team (SRT) run by Razlan between 2014 and 2021 with over RM200 million in total.

“Razlan forgets that when he launched the team in 2014 it was with a promise of providing a platform for Malayian riders to progress to the premier class of MotoGP, in fact to create Malaysia’s first MotoGP rider.

“Despite such commitment from all the relevant parties, the plan seemed to deviate to eventually feature less and less Malaysian riders and now Razlan seems to be blaming Malaysian riders for not being good enough,” Arnaz added.

Needling on Razlan’s claim that Malaysia will unlikely be producing a MotoGP racer even in the next 10 years, Arnaz believed that such remark should only be applied to Razlan’s team.

“It is time others be given the opportunity to produce results without Razlan dictating terms as he has failed and is now continuously resorting to blaming others for not being good enough.

“There are many others running programmes who have not received the same level of government and corporate support, and do not have the same political connection as he has,” Arnaz pointed out.

Razlan’s contentious statement was voiced during a youth motoring session organised by the Motorsports Association of Malaysia on Wednesday.