The Rally of Queensland happens in Australia this weekend, and besides the yellow works Proton Satria Neo S2000s, we will be following the progress of another Neo, driven by Karamjit Singh. Yes, the Flying Sikh is back in the FIA Asia Pacific Rally Championship (APRC) after a six-year absence. He confirmed his entry on the last day of registration.
Karamjit, Asia’s most successful rally driver, will be competing as a privateer with Indian co-driver Vivek Ponnusamy. The multiple APRC champ and Production World Rally champ will be driving a CUSCO tuned Proton Satria Neo 2WD with private funding from close friends and family.
After opting out of the season opening Malaysian Rally, which Proton won, Karamjit’s 2011 APRC campaign starts this weekend. He will be gunning to be the 2WD category champion. “I’m very happy to be able to rally at one of the APRC rounds this year. My aim is to be challenging for wins right from my first race,” the 49-year old said.
But it all depends on the funds available. Karamjit is confident he will be able to attract “strategic partnerships” with government agencies as well as private companies to allow him race the entire season. For next year, Karamjit wants to make a comeback in the Group N 4WD category, if there’s enough support that comes in on time.
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I hope the steering is on the right side.
Definitely. Old man (pardon my word) cannot change side easily. Plus the pic shows the car was MY registered- WVB4981. Hope he is using the same machine.
Really happy he is driving again. hahahah. :D
Yeah, it’s not easy to judge angles and distance on the other side especially when you’re flying down a trail.
Go for the win, Karam!!!
i remember going to one of the malaysians rallies a couple of years ago on the invite of gunaseelan rajoo (another prominent drver and owner of penzoil gsr motosports ) and watched this guy beating all the highly funded 4wd evos and subarus with a 2wd turbocharged 1.8 mk1 satria that was really banged up…it was an open category and it was astonishing and ironic at the same time….!!
its baffling with all the sponsorship we put on motorsports (i think we have the most amount of presence as a country on the f1 grid this season ! ) nobody consistently backed this guy up after the demise of Pert…im confident he would have been world class..well better late then never to give it a stab i say…lol…..
he already world class rally driver..he is former group-N world champion with proton pert way way back
Welcome back Karamjit
What a waste. Our own flying Karamjit Singh have to fork out his own money + his friends and family’s? Malaysia Boleh I guess. Even Lee Chong Wei in badminton get an endorsement from Proton itself (badminton and cars???). Something should be done to correct all this distortion in Malaysia. I even remember those ex-army left alone when they are protecting our country with their life, while artist, sportmens, businessmen easily get a Datukship..
If they are really artists, I have no qualm…. but artistes … ?
love to see karamjit drive proton again..his mitsubishi already outdated..heheheh..
yes… go karamjit..
Go Go Power Karamjit hehehehe My respect for you !
poor guy. IMalaysia F1 made huge investment to see our cars at the back of the F1 grid. Petronas paid huge sum to sponsor a desperate old man. Even proton is giving money to sponsor a scandalous team in F1.
Strategic wise, maybe. Patriotic? my ass. this should be our national hero in motor racing but his career ended prematurely because no malaysian sponsor his title defence (not title challenge!) as reigning champion. sounds ridiculous since we can sponsor 3 F1 team.
our flying sikh is flying without wing…
They will never listen… until die. After that he will get Datukhip…
proton funded the F1 team not driver…..driver find their own sponsorship to drive…we should angry with our private sector..most of our sportmen r sponsored by GLC and only handful of private company(but not malaysian company)….
GO GO! SINGH!
wasted talent. he might be aging but i believe he can stil perform. at least it is very ridiculous when we look back to the times when he can’t defend his title as a champion because the lack of funding. if 1M racing can run a team at the back of F1 grid, petronas can sponsor a desperate old man and proton would buy stakes in a scandalous team, why wouldn’t anyone (malaysian) support our flying sikh?
If he can stil shine but can’t get the funding then this is truly injustice. Our fling sikh is indeed flying without wing.
where is our private sector???? y do we need gov to do that..our sportsmen will be laugh by others coz still need gov help to excel…i think in this whole wide world only bolehland gov sponsor our sportsmen
salute!!!
Thats we call Malaysia car with Malaysia Driver. Thumps Up!!!!
His 49 and yet still flying in rallies. Applaud his passion for rallying esp in a Malaysian made car but still feeling sad he has to scout for sponsors like last time. Still good luck and keep an eye on the APRC round in Australia this weekend. Hopefully Proton reigns there too!
So why a Malaysian company Proton not sponsoring such a talented Malaysian driver? Pitiful, I hope they realize this and give him a official seat in the S2000 Neo next year.
didnt he get an official seat in the S2000 already.. i think it just didn’t work out at the time. from what i know.. this proton cusco team is also some sort of collaboration between proton and cusco hence the MY registered rally cars.
its sad to hear a successful rally driver being funded by close family and frens…where is the gov of 1M..burning tax money for least experienced drivers huh?
Karamjit Singh just like a Malaysia Michael Schumacher in rally..we always supporting you.. :)
Way to go Karam!! He’s my old personal friend and i know exactly what he went through when he did not get any sponsorhsips,though i can’t disclose the details.Here we have a superb Malaysian rally champion and talent and he always gets sidelined.What a waste of a briiliant talent.
And the best part of the joke is that Karam started rallying Saga’s in the 80’s under PERT – Proton’s rallying arm and did splendidly good for himself.Now he is still driving a Proton yet again for the upteenth time and Proton can still give excuses or reasons NOT to sponsor him.He may be almost 50,but believe me,his times are always super consistent! I have had the pleasure of sitting in his rally car with him giving me some laps around some sectors many times just for fun,and i shit you not,this man can really rally the living daylights out of any car!
Lack of sponsorship from Proton is truly injustice but our own Flying Sikh will kick all their asses in his catergory.Just watch guys.Go Karam!!
Cheers.
Agreed. It is rare for a senior driver within his age to perform not just on par but in fact a lot better than most young drivers. He consistently makes Malaysia proud and he wants to do it again. Therefore, there’s no excuse on why he should not be sponsored.
when it come to Karam, I always wonder why is always have problem getting sponsorship but everybody said he is flying and winning here and there…. why? why? why? …
proton spent so much in f1 via lotus, and have their own rally team, but they left karam out of their radar. being proton, we cannot hope much since they all managed by small brain people.
then we have petronas, who spent millions with motorsport. they even spent on local kapchai racing, but they also left karam out. why?
last we have airlines company who own f1 team, GP2 team, bought over lotus team name, and the latest took over caterhem. they boasted how they have developed and exposed malaysians into motor racing, even found raw diamond from proton and polished into sparking gem, yet they also left out karam.
why?
Why? Because how many people watch rallies? How many people can even name one current rally driver?
Rally coverage in the media is non-existent nowadays, so companies are rather reluctant to spend money on sponsorships in rally where the ROI is not visible.
10 years ago, WRC was big. Heck, even APRC was big. It was a proud moment when Karam won the 2002 Group N Championship, to see him standing at the FIA Awards in Monaco together with Gronholm, Schumacher et. al. Now? Rallying is not the same anymore.
His new title shall be OLDEST Flying Sikh…
no…should be VINTAGE FLYING SIKH
typical M’sian enterprise…..always support the outsiders….downgrade the available local talents…instead of honouring the surviving locals…they went to scouts the locals & foreigners abroad which always demand salary & others silly benefits…he’d proved his worth with the titles he won..eventhough in most desperate situation….still no funding… where’s there are a lot other sports over here which get the allocations…but yet..their results is really freak….pity for him…whatever it’s, i’m supporting you Mr. Karamjit as always i’am…you’re true Malaysian….Good Luck…Keep your spirit UP….lastly… SELAMAT MAJU JAYA & TAHNIAH….
go go go i hope you can get good result and get sponsor.
Since now proton start involve in RALLY prove them you also worth to invest.
Yess ! The flying Karamjit Singh returns !
All the best ! ! ! :)
In Malaysia, Kulit-fication matters, Qualification is in the dust bin.
His past success was proton/petronas/eon funded…and he do get his shot at the s2000 2 years ago..but masuk longkang……jangan la simply jump into conclusion….after all the Cusco n16 is a factory (proton) backed…
BTW good luck karam!!
Play the race card. Care to explain why Lee Chong Wei & Nicol David can easily get endorsements?
It has nothing to do with kulit.
To me it not just kulit,
but perception from locals.
We spents lots of money on Alex Yoong because he is handsome, more commercial-cred, and his father is already in motorsport and know somebody.And he turned out to be the worst investment in F1 after,maybe, 1MF1 for Malaysia.
i’ve heard years before that just to have a team to stay in F1 cost the same amount to have a winning full-fledge generously funded team in WRC.
And while you at it, win on sunday and sell on Monday.
if u said kulit-fication what bout lee chong wei(proton), nicol ann david(CIMB)? azizul hasni(sime darby), jazeman(petronas)…
dont talk like that lar. if it is about kulit.. who are always on top of malaysian richest? that fella who own astro, maxis, oil tanker, ipp, lumba kuda, etc. same kulit as flying sigh but not sponsor him. if you said sigh and krishnan actually not of the same kulit, that their own kulit problem. to white kulit and brown kulit, they are of the same kulit.
another kulit like sigh (or half of it) is the superstar in malaysian motosport industry. own a car racing team but not sponsor sigh also.
actually it is because sigh is not as hensome as others. thats all.
haaa dh startlah tu nak buat stupid accusations, kulit-fications lah…kang tulis racist lak….xabis2 nak politikkn isu…
hey paul, ever considered sponsoring karamjit? can promo your website too. cmon. we all back u up.
HAIL MALAYSIAN RALLY SAINT!
At 49 , hats off to you for still having
the drive. passion and determination !!
But in life, you have past your prime days
just like what Schuey is facing now . competing with
guys half your age would be really though.
By now you should be a team consultant instead
cos your vast experience in rally driving is priceless !!
Once again all the best Macha !
some ppl asking why proton does not sponsor him…
If Proton do sponsor him, another question we might get by other ppl is..
Why Proton sponsoring this aging driver… wasting money la… better focus to quality la…
Heck, Proton / Proton Edar should have got Karamjit Singh for their latest Persona add campaign !
IMHO, when Karamjit sez a car is good, I will take notice of it….
When 3 DJ’s sez a car is good ? ? ? I’ll let you draw your own conclusions’larr..
Cheers :)
so many rally driver talent in Malaysia wasted.. not only Karam, same goes to Saladin Mazlan?
Local rallying scene getting worst.. previous years we have a lot other than MRC.. but this year its not so happening anymore..
anyway, good luck Mr. Karam.. 49 is just number, your soul and spirit always be the same and might be even better
By the way, is it Saladin Mazlan in the current national Polo team?
Heard from his navigator years before that he involved in Polo, and ,then, trained in Argentina.
yup.. he plays polo a lot compare to rallying nowadays :) really miss him in action with his Subaru
r u sure? or just ur assumption? there is malaysian rally championship and APRC that malaysia host..what other rally championship u has in mind? unlike single seater rally championship have limited grup…mostly national rally is group-N championship…do u think most rally team in malaysia afford S2000 car? even neo S2000 cost a bomb(neo cusco not S2000)
there are lots of other rally event other than MRC and APRC before.. we used to have rally-x, rally sprint, taiping tarmac rally.. this year calendar only have MRC and APRC only
for grassroot level no need s2000 spec la.. stock standard car with proper setup plus safety regulation will do.. i’ve seen local rally enthusiast spinning around their machine in ladang tebu at Perlis, its so much fun
Karamjit Singh in the best talent driver, Not like the other Malaysia driver from F-1!!!
who alex yoong? he was in crap team to start with and sponsor by magnum….fairuz fauzi? he never race a single race…..r u compare with alex or fairuz? i hope u dont compare with non race driver if u do that a will memalukan karamjit coz he is very experience rally driver..n u compare with 0 race f1 driver
even karam singh walia got sponsored……
Singh is King!
Pitty to Malaysia rally sport. As one idiom “Kera dihutan disusukan, anak sendiri dirumah mati kehausan’
even Juha Kankkunen, Hiroshi Masuoka & kenjiro shinozuka continue to race at the age 49..so..if any Corp that say Karamjit is old…..it’s shows how stupid they are…make money from malaysian but sponsored the foreigners…..really stupid…..
Hope Ari Vatanen will back to rally…
Malaysia UNSUNG Hero…
He should be plying his trade with the world’s best.
Not scrapping for ‘kerak’ in his own homeland…
Long, long time ago there was this public donation drive that gave us Velodrome Rakyat in Ipoh.
Why not do the same thing for a motorsports team? then this will truly be a RAKYAT MALAYSIA RACING TEAM..
Can the flying Singh compete with the younger drivers ?? Look at Schu in F1 ….. he is still good but not good enough with the younger breed of drivers at F1
Dun push too far ….. retire when you’re still Top if not end up like Schu ….. sad story
just read the papers today
Actually Schu performance is very good for me… Consider he still in the top 10 in many race… Even better than the f1 driver…
So i think karamjait will be doing great… If he did not win also i think he will still be in top 10…. car racing need a good driver, but good car and good fund also very impertant.. not to forget the good team members…
I suggest that karamjit put his skill to better use,open a rally driving center and impart his skills to others,can collect payment also.From there he can use the cash to fund his own team.I sure alot of u guys will join,if he does set up the center. Just my 2cents,Cheers!!
My Salute to Flying Sikh… Go for it!
Just show everyone age is not the limit….
now why should proton waste more money in sponsoring him? u guys always bash proton for wasting money, so lets not ask proton to waste more money anymore. Better spend that money to improve the power window ‘problem’
no need to improve power window. basher always bash no matter how much proton fixed it. And they would not buy P1 forever. But it is good if basher is patriotic for talented malaysian. No matter how bad we are but hey, it is us!
I am just hoping that Cusco will make some after market bits for Neo CPS. This will give more choices. But then their product range is mostly for competition use. What we need is adjustable coilovers with springs that match the R3 spring rates. Oh yes!
Private sectors should also sponsor him, maybe Maxis?
good to hear from u karam…hope that he will get a many sponsor…one driver from our country and using local car…with more money,he can make something big to his car..gud luck karam…
kill two birds with one stone….
proton, and karamjit.
its not that government didn’t offer him a sponsorship but he himself don’t want to burden others. When informed about the possibility of receiving public or government assistance, Singh refused such offers, stating that he believed he could find enough corporate sponsors to avoid burdening the public. Rather than accepting assistance from individuals, Singh said he would consider racing for another country. When informed, the Prime Minister of Malaysia, Abdullah Ahmad Badawi reportedly asked: “If Karamjit is a Malaysian and has been producing results and bringing honour to the country, why has support not been accorded to him?”