A special celebrity Champion’s Drive will be held at next week’s A1 Grand prix at the Sepang circuit. Malaysia’s A1 Team and Proton has organised a 10 lap race, which involves celebrities racing in Proton’s Satria R3 cars.
Some of the celebrities participating are former F1 champion Emmerson Fittipaldi, ex-F1 driver Jan Lammers, Alex Yoong’s sister Pippa Yoong and Malaysia’s rally king Karamjit Singh.
The Malaysian leg of the A1 Grand Prix will be held from 18-20 November 2005. Tickets are priced from RM30 to RM200.
Looking to sell your car? Sell it with Carro.
Alex Yoong’s sister Pippa Yoong…..how is she a celebrity? tak kenal pun.
Pippa yoong…..is Puppy yoong sister friends and pipi yoong is friend of one of my friend's friend, I think I know her maybe …..I know she is a Malaysian rights????
YAU MOU GAU….CHOR!! Who the hell is SHE!!! Why is she can involve in that celebration??
Limpeh will be having Ampang yong tofu next weekend.. yummy
Philippa Yoong to be precised; she's into water sky jumping together with Alex while they're young, representing Malaysia…
Yoohooo..R3 rocks!
izzit they use the remaining unsold satria r3 to race it down????adui…….
Having ex f1 drivers like Fitipaldi to race should makes things interesting!
sorry to tell you, SR3 all sold out!
now, the buyers/owners make money rent out their R3 such as these, what a good investment decision!
Old reworked car does not impress me. R3 or R10 also makes not difference.
but the reworked R3 are pretty impressive actually.. (repeat again in sync) Its actually a tuned car with factory guarantee actually.. Not for the faint hearted
Maybe the new city with new headlights and brakelights would impress you restoll
whoaaaaa… Emerson Fittipaldi… whoaaaaa! I would gladly pay to see him drive! The fella is a bloody LEGEND in F1 man! The first champion from Brazil. Later came the man who will forever be my F1 idol and overall driving idol; Ayrton Senna. He was "the man." No one else came close to Senna. But now he's gone… :(
so…Alex "Stupid dogshit F1 failure" Yoong will be driving huh? hmmm… Wonder what will happen when he loses (he will DEFINITELY lose!). Is he going to put on more Brylcreem and give some stupid ass reasons to justify his shitty ass driving? Dumb ass wanker…
haiyaa… let him race la… what's the problem?
MutantTomato: That's very unfortunate that Alex is driving for us. He got all the limelight while Fairuz's is left behind. I believe more in that young fella.
As for Phillipa (who?). I know she use to race in Ladies Night in the 'late' Batu Tiga a lot. But she didn't emerge as a well known lady racer in this country unlike Deanna Yusuf and Maznah Zulkifli. Eh, those two are more celebrity than Phillippa. What's this? Another cronisme?
No wonder sports in this country never expand!
hahha u got point there….
well well…. still got people complains about Alex blah blah…… y no 1 acknowleadge his hard work in all those races …… and the result he made in A1……
Malaysia is a new kid in the racing arena… support malaysian who race for our flag…. if we dont support them.. who will…..
akms.. she's a girl racer ma.. so they bring her la.. I think not that many girl racers maybe.. All batang no fun la. I don't think its your cronisme.. its more like batangology la.
ya la what kind of b shit… alex yong's whole family now can become celebrity ka ..
puppy yoong i had before, pippa yoong not sure la..
pippa? puppy? papa? papaya? pipi papa pupy paya?
what the hell? all 'ah yoong's sisters.
whole families will come out that day.
hahaha…
cheers…
What's the point in having a celebrity race anyway? So they can make more moneybfrom the public? If it's for charity (as they normally are), then fine. If not, then I couldn't be bothered.
And what's the big deal in racing an R3? Is it really fast? Driving a normal car on a racetrack is like riding a bicycle on Federal Highway when it's empty. It's gonna be so slow.
I'm not being biased just because he is Malaysian or anything like that. Heck, I have the utmost respect for Karamjit Singh. The man works his butt off. Nicole David? She will always be a champion to me, whether she wins or loses.
But "Ass-licks" Yoong? What did he ever do in F1? And puh-leeeeeeze don't say its because of the car he drove. Look at Tiago Monteiro, Narain Karthikeyan and whoever else is driving for Jordan, Minardi and the usual back markers. The commentators for F1 say this at almost every race; "Narain is giving it his best. He's pushing that car to the max!" But our representative? I remember the race in Monte Carlo, when the commentator said, "Yoong doesn't even seem to be trying. He's not even pushing the car. And he is making the same mistakes at the same places everytime!"
So his excuse was the Minardi car was shite… Well, now in A1, all the cars are exactly the same. The only difference is the colours. So, why hasn't he won any races yet? Whats the excuse going to be now? The paint is too heavy? The Malaysian flag design reduces aerodynamics of the car? What else?!
Here's his "achievements," if you can call it that so far:
Britain race = 0 for sprint race, 6 for main race
Germany race = 5 for sprint race, 0 for main race
Portugal race = 3 for sprint race, 0 for main race
go to http://www.a1gp.com/results/index_portugal.php , and click on "view championship results." See for yourself if I made up these results or not.
If he wants a crash course in driving, he should go race against those Ah Bengs with the modified Supras or Hondas or whatever. They can teach him a heckuva lot about driving.
Ohh… just for informations' sakes, "Pippa" is short for Phillipa…. Yeah, I think thats the correct spelling la… :D She ain't too bad to look at, but the last I saw a picture of her, she had uhmmm…. a case of "thunder thighs" going on… If you don't know what it means, ask around or go Wiki it ;)
i would love to race in SR3
waiting to test drive Gen2 R3
Hope the see the defitions of skills n experience in the race.
Same car, same specs but different drivers. Wonder who could push it to da max. it'll be fun to watch.
MutantTomato: Hahaha! Well said!
alex may have done terribly in F1, but he can still drive rings around anyone in this forum anyday.
marmitecrab,
the celebrity race is in support of the A1 GP. its a 100% commercial event. sponsors pay to get this event running. they can choose to have an elephant race if thought it would bring in the crowds. The public decides for themselves whether they want to purchase a ticket and watch the race, no one is forced to do so. so whats your point exactly?
"No wonder sports in this country never expand!" – I think u've got a point!
Money has its way… If your family is rich, your path to the top is open wide wide like highway.
Luckily nicole david's sport doesn't require so much money.
Unlucky for Karamjit cos his sport require alotta money.
Pippa (Phillippa) happens to be faster than Deanna and Maznah (who is she anyway?) in the X1R MME GTI they shared.
karamjit pun turun la bai..
I once read somewhere saying Alex is actually very quick. Just try sit next to him in a Lotus, or R3, or whatever car that has a passenger seat, you'll see he brakes really late, has all it takes to be a racer. He is quick.
But I choose to believe that he's quick because he had been given the opportunity to start racing since young (read: money), and after all those years of racing, surely some skills and experience have developed. It's just that other racers' skills (read: Webber, Alonso) developed faster oni. Maybe F1 is not for him.
Well at least he's not doing "DNQ"s in A1 now.
Can I say "Mutto" is short form for "MutantTomato" ar? wuahahahahahahahahahaha jokin man :P yea pippa do have a good lookin mix-blood face and body…other than that, not sure wat she has :|
honda_driver,
You seem to believe in Alex Yoong's ability on and off the track. I'm not sure if he can "drive rings around anyone in this forum anyday" as some of the contributors are quite good. Not all but some.
You say this race was organised in support of A1 GP. Is the A1 GP doing so badly that the organisers need to get celebs to come and make fools of themselves? I never said the public is forced to buy tickets. Where in my post did you read that??? I said I couldn't be bothered and that was merely my personal opinion. How would you like it if I commented on something you didn't say?
I sticked to the original post by commenting on the car being used and the fact that celebrities are involved which is better than most of what was said by the other contributors anyway.
So now I ask you, what is your point?
And I asked a legitimate question – "Is racing an R3 going to be fast enough to excite people?" A race track like Sepang with it's long straights is going to make any car not worthy look like it's going real slow. Hence, the entertainment value will be somewhat subdued.
Frankly, I wouldn't mind coming if it were the ex-prime ministers of Malaysia racing those cars around but in keeping in line with the frivolity of the title, I decided to make my thoughts known.
at the very least it excites me and some other proton cars owners, r3 owners, gti owners, even other car makes owner who are 'satu kapla' etc, and our numbers a lot – a sense of belonging here..
compare to using lotus or porsche etc…
excellent advertising mileage for r3 proton!
Proton seems to have quietly launched the Proton Savvy AMT from the full page ad in NST Car Buyers Guide last Sunday.
Any1 has a test drive/ review yet?
is that will be a race between proud-flying-sikh and alex-yoong-taufu
fair enough on your opinions on the celeb race.
"So they can make more moneybfrom the public?" so what does this mean?
but i still stick by what i said about alex being able to drive way quicker than any of us here. he might have suxed bigtime in F1, but he also showed he has some ability, winning the porsche cup race in the macau GP sometime back. he is also currently doing a lot better than the other ex-F1 drivers in A1.
yup, im still pretty sure he can drive better than us.
lol … ex-F1 drivers ….. very nice words
wat alex yoong have been done for our country in f1?? malu saja!!! buang duit saja!!! now he still bring his sister to make malu hah?
y not invite our HONDA RACING MALAYSIA – EDDIE LEW?!!!!
HE IS THE ONE !!!!!! GOGOGOGO EDDIE!!
Commo, Alex not even a qualified F1 driver so how good can you expect him to be. It is only a courtesy invitation due to SEPANG. This is all about the " malaysia boleh" motto which is a joke.
Malaysia boleh is not by talking, DO IT, PROVE IT.
Proton BOLEH…….*how we are wish that can true*
honda_driver,
I don't believe I have to qualify all my statements/thoughts to you or anyone. If you want an explanation, then kindly ask for one. But I'll give you one anyway to humour you.
When I say "they can make more money from the public", it is a general statement. I can also ask you what do you mean by, "he is also currently doing a lot better than the other ex-F1 drivers in A1". Who? How much better? Does that make him a hero? Should we celebrate mediocrity? What about all that money he used to fuel his delusions of grandeur on the F1 stage?
When was the last time you were entertained by Alex Yoong? Now, he (and when I say he, I mean the whole bunch of them incl celebs/organisers/etc.) is asking (not forcing) you (not you specifically but the public) to part with your hard-earned to come and be entertained. Alex Yoong is the only one with F1 racing experience so it would naturally be a strong presumption that he would perform better, given that they are all driving the same cars with the same setup. The only other one who minght provide some sort of challenge would presumably be Karamjit Singh. But that remains to be seen as rallying is very different from track racing.
I'm not trying to say anything of great significance here but trouncing on anyone's efforts but merely sharing a thought. If that thought offended you, then good because now, it causes you to think. But think harder about what you want to say lest you do it foolhardily.
He can drive "rings" around anybody in this forum?! well hardy HAR HAR!! Rings! Niiiiiiiiice choice of a term to use man! Your terminology is perfect but its usage is not. Here, let me correct it for you… "He is a big 'ring', compared to anybody in this forum!" See, I'd rather take the 'ring' in its colloquial form of meaning a big ZERO…
Abu: Bro, that is one letter short of 'mutton' la! :P Call me 'mutie' if ya wanna abbreviate my nick la! :D
Macau GP?! Who the hell cares about the Macau GP?! The last time I saw the Macau GP was in Simon Yam's movie "Tiger of Wanchai." Ahahahahaha!!! But seriously… So what if he won some Macau GP? See, I think most of us are trying to say is, although the fella can win some half assed races, he is definitely not the best goddamned driver in this country. However, he sure is being publicised in that way! What a crock o shit…
C'mon mutton! At least you SAW the Macau GP. Even if it was in a movie.
You just highlighted something that reminded me of Malaysian sports. We don't want to be the world's best (except for Nicol and Karamjit), we just want to TAKE PART in world class events so that we can show the world AKA Malaysians, how good we will be when we take all our experience and knowledge (expensive, though it may be) to some half-baked, unheard-of event and become "somewhat" good at it.
Har! Har! Har!
I like bashing Alex Yoong, and the likes of other Malaysians or Malaysian companies/brands that seem to think they are larger than life itself.
Here's a personal story from my trip to Europe in January. It concerns the fame of Alex Yoong.
After attending the reveal of the Airbus A380 in Toulouse, the group of us went to Derby in England, to visit the Rolls-Royce aircraft engine plant. But the night that we arrived, RR decided to give us dinner, preceeded by a visit to the Donington Grand Prix Collection, Donington Park in Derbyshire.
Apparently this former glorious race course houses one of the biggest private colelctions of F1 cars, I think some 50 odd numbers. These include the real flat oblong shapes of the early days. A David Coulthard car was my choice for a pix, after my camera could only accomodate 1 pix more :(.
Anyway, the guy who took care of the place ( I can't remember his name) claimed to know everything about F1. And true enough, you ask him a year, he'll tell you who won, how many accidents, and more trivia than you could ever think of. He's a real F1 nut, and his credibility was not questioned by our 30-odd delegation.
Until…
I asked him, "So you know all about F1 eh?"
"Yup", the Brit quipped.
"Tell me", I said, "have you ever heard of Yoong? Alex Yoong?"
He looked stumped, us Malaysians laughed. The Filipino and Indonesian journos also laughed, knowing full well where I was getting at.
So I explained to poor guy, whom I didn't intend to embarass at all.
"Hmm… I'll have to look that one up!", he said.
I left somewhat puzzled as to how he did not hear of Alex.
I'd bet my bottom dollar that if I met him today, he'd have heard of Narain Karthikeyan…
So Carb arr!!
–> we just want to TAKE PART in world class events so that we can show the world AKA Malaysians, how good we will be when we take all our experience and knowledge (expensive, though it may be) to some half-baked, unheard-of event and become “somewhat†good at it.
Does it means our G is making a RIGHT choice because We Bolehland also TAKE PART in world event….by sending a BOLEHLAND's ASSSONAULT TO the moon. And we also hoping to get experienced by participating such kind of activity like other RICH countries…..even though we don't had any TECHnology in Aerospace!!?? :P
YAU MOU GAU….CHOR!!!
we wont have nicol, karamjit and even alex if we dont start at all…
sadly to say, with all the bashing etc, etc, on paper (at least), alex yoong's our best (and that left the rest of us, at what level?)….
Therein lies the problem Jake.
If Alex IS our best, as you put it, what have we got ahead of us…
We gotta pray just to make it today…
When r we going to see a Gen.2 R3? If you guys ask the people from MMC sure they will tell you that this version of Satria R3 a.k.a Colt already went for recycle.
marmitecrab: WOI!!! Whats with the 'mutton?!' :P :D Bro, you said it as point blank, straight to the point as possible. Just because the world does something, we feel every now and then, we have to jump onto the bandwagon. Case in point, the ASStronaut. Whats the point? To have a qualified MEASAT repairman? And what would we call him/her? A Bolehnaut? or maybe it should be "Boleh-or-not?!"
Jake: Bro, "Alex is our best?" Come on bro!!! The rest of us did not try to drive an F1 car but end up looking like a jackass because we chose not to. Each of us here has made a decision to pursue a certain career. How can you be so sure that if one of us here took up driving as our career choice, we wouldn't be better than that lame ass? Heck bro, maybe u n i could be representing Malaysia at the F1 if we chose that as a career! :D
Just because something is popular somewhere else and everyone is doing it doesn't make it the "in" thing to follow. Like drifting. Drifting is a highly skilled art of driving. Not everyone can throw a car around a track and make it look graceful and stylish. But, if a big time drifting circuit was opened here, most people would say something like "Aiyah! So what? Who cannot do that? Whats so great?" Which, if you ask me, is a really stupid thing to say.
So, we shouldn't just hop onto a bandwagon just because everyone else is. So, here's my take on this:
1. Proton spending money to parachute a car to the North Pole = stupid!
Proton spending money to improve quality = smart!
2. Malaysia sending an ASStronaut into space = stupid!
Malaysia sending students to learn aeronautical engineering = smart!
3. Malaysia building a great, high tech F1 circuit = smart!
Malaysia sending a dumbfork like "Assface Yonk" as a rep = Stupid x 10000000k
aiks.. how nice if Ian Khong joins too.. i bet on Karamjit.. =D
Hahaha mutie! Why so many zero one? I'm quite agree with you the G should've send 100s of students to learn aeronautical instead of sending 3 person to space…at least not yet. There are still yet so many things to achieve in our Bolehland. At least that's what I think.
Twoxer Hayzen: Seems that you had some fun aye? Haha…poor Yoong. Even an F1 nuts didn't know him. A friend of mine in Aussie knows him as a DNQ F1 driver! LOL!
You see, I don't really have hatred towards Yoong. He could have potential. But he's not nut enough to slam a corner at 150mph. If you watch his races you can see the difference between him and other drivers. I've always loves to compare him with his former team mate Mark Webber. Drove the same car, no power steering, same horse power, bad aerodynamic, but yet he still manage to do well that gets him a place in the Williams team. What did Yoong get? Failure to raise fund due to his "telurless" and whining over the weaknesses. No spirit of winning.
He could've beat other Ah Beng on the track given his experience in many races. But could he go faster? I bet Halim in yellow VTEC brakes even later and take corners in Batu 3 faster than Yoong.
My saying is, Yoong tak cukup "kering". Karamjit lagi hati kering kot. He must've done sideways at 180km/h before. Heheh!
Ok, lah, Mutie! Just trying to stick with the food motif.
What you said is too true. I feel that instead of all that money spent sponsoring Alex, it could have benefitted so many others in so many other areas. Eg. Karamjit. The maney could have also gone to many charities and other needy organisations. I'm sure his sponsors like Magnum and so on do have provisions for such but I'm also sure they were convinced by Alex and gang that by sponsoring him, he would be able to achieve some form of success in the field of F1. Why else would companies spends hundreds of millions on him?
Well, guess what? Not only no results but a complete failure. Even an F1 enthusiast has never heard of him! How many cars/drivers take part? 20 something? He is so unheard of and insignificant, no one even bothers. All that money spent for nothing.
ALEX…Sorry ALEX what?? is it ALEX MOLAN YOONG??
Sorry i think its ALEX something yoong.
Ok whatever, yeah i totally agree…his driving sucks big time. Put any AH BENG AH SENG in that race and i can gurantee they will beat him KAU KAU man….
Apart from all the bad driving skills….our Alex is sure good at one thing.
HE SURE KNOWS HOW TO CHOOSE HIS WIFE!!! Alex you got taste but still ur driving….mmmm…bad la
Wah!! VERY Creative man!! (Claps my hands x 100 times)
ALEX MOlan YOONG plus TELURless……GOod name good name!!
YAU MOU GAU….CHOR!!! Give him a break lah!! If Alex read this blog, I think he will not join that party lol dudes!! Must wear a plastic cover on him face to attend it!! What about wearing a special MASK called ULTAman!!??
after reading all the comments above i feel that i need to write something to defend Alex Yoong.
Yes he may not be the fastest, but how long has Malaysia involved in motor racing. some of the cooments have compared Alex Yoong to so called Ah Bengs and Ah Sengs, have there been prove that these people have won Alex in a properly setup dogfight?
We all need a start. with Malaysia's current policy of racing, its not as aggresive as a lot of other country's promoting sports, especially motor racing, eg: Japan, hong kong. If some you you have seen AFOS, a young driver from Hong Kong is driving a EK type-R, age : 16, last year if i remember correctly, sponsored by a company, ( sorry, not sure whether its Ao's Racing i'll do a check up). how many other malaysians have Alex's chance to excel in a career in racing, my dad told me to " Stop Dreaming".
So, have any of you guys sat in Alex's car while he is racing? you guys compared Alex Yoong to Mark Webber, and yes, maybe he is slower, but at least its a step, in my opinion, racing is about skill, luck and a lot of money. if i am not mistaken, Formula BMW was developed exactly for that purpose.
on a last note, if Alex Yoong is as slow as everybody thinks in here, why was he chosen by Minardi to drive in the first place, since there is untap-ed talent from Hong Kong, Singapore, Thailand an etc.
Alex's race history http://www.f1db.com/f1/page/Alex_Yoong
whoops, forgot to add this.
at least Alex made it to the world stage, what has our fine footballers have to say, oh yea, hockey anyone? or maybe badminton.
some would say, if alex lose like this, better not race at all in the first place, bring malu saja. then why do we even try sports in the first place, study study study enough lo, since we would never be good in any of the sports anyway.
..and buat kereta pun tak pandai jugak..the bashers said lah…
CarNut,
You may not know this but is costs a lot of money to maintain an F1 racing team. Something to the tune of hundreds of millions of USD a year and Minardi was one of the teams in dire need of sponsorship. And big sponsors are only willing to go with winning or promising teams like Ferrari and McLaren Mercedes. The smaller teams would attract sponsors as well but not sponsors with that kind of money. The costs include buying engines, paying for crew, wind tunnel testing, tyres, marketing, etc. Minardi chose Alex because the sponsors they were talking to had a condition, Alex Yoong has to be one of their drivers.
A good question you should be asking is why didn't Sauber Petronas take him? After all, Petronas is the main sponsor and a Malaysian company. Didn't they believe in sponsoring their own countryman?
Alex may be good, he may be damn good but the fact of the matter is, he failed to not only live up to expectations, he failed miserably. How many points did he get? What was his target? Did he achieve it? How do the sponsors feel about his dismal performance? What promises did he make to the sponsors? Was he dropped because the sponsors pulled out or was he asked to leave?
So many questions but so few answers. But you're right in one thing. We need to start somewhere and if you see how all the F1 drivers started their career, it is almost entirely with Cart Racing first. The first thing we need is a proper Cart Prix with schools and academies. It must also be affordable and with proper encouragement from parents, I'm sure in some years time, we'll have a proper driver who can put up a good fight. Not someone who chased delusions of grandeur.
Im not sure if any of you guys actually watch A1gp… But Alex has so far performed quite respectably(impressive in some races) …He has been in points in every event and runs in the top 5 -10 easily.. In fact, he is one of the fastest starters in A1GP if you watched the race in Germany you would know .. In fact overall, he is a better driver than Fairuz Fauzy (not that im saying that fairuz is bad) but he clearly outperformed fairuz ..it was especially clear at brands hatch when fairuz actually lost a couple positions and was out of the points.. Alex made up the losses significantly by finishing 5th in the feature race…
Alex as well as Fairuz has my support..
Amazing. This posting began as a discussion on The Celebrity race and has ended as a Alex Yoong-is -crap-does not-Merits-a A1/F1-Drive-thread .
Bash Alex all you wnat but how many of you are willing to sacrifice as he has. And before some of you IDIOTs startsaying what sacrifice, how about this, Sister putting her own studies on hold, father focussing only on getting his son a single seater drive above all else, Alex himself living in the UK canvassing for sponsorship and racing , not sure of having a seat in the next round.And he still can take pride being the First Malaysian in F1, which is more that can be said about us here.
Some of you sit behind your screen holdoing a desk job and not respecting people who dare take up a challenge make me sick. Typical Malaysian mentality, do you get shot, don't do also get shot at. BASTARDS.
Wew should be proud, he was willing to put up the sacrifice andventure into this sports. Because of Alex and his Father, the Govt actually recognises motorsports until the Youth Ministry backs a Karting championship.
Before Alex ventured into F1 most malaysians (except for true Motorsports Enthusiast) didn't even know F1. heck you think SIC would exist if the Govt didn't know about F1.
So pls, stop bashing Alex, look at yourself in the mirror and ask yourself, "What have I acheived?"
agreed! Even if you say that Alex was born with a silver spoon, not all rich kids make it to the point alex has made. Don't be jealous of him.. ha ha ha !
So what if he's not that good.. he's still better in racing than me.. and a lot of other people.
At least he's racing F1.. i think i cannot even race kupchai la. Slowly la.. everybody gets better at what they do..
That's right! Let's support Alex! Everyone, stop staring at your computer screens and take out your wallets right now.
I'm starting a collection fund to put him BACK into F1. All we need is approximately USD100 million, so I'll need about USD1 million from everyone who contributes here plus also your family members.
Pls make all cheque payments to: Marmitecrab c/o Alex Yoong F1 Reloaded
Superman, clap clap clap, well said.
Marmitecrab, i hope you have some fact to prove that the sponsors' condition was to put Alex inside.
if no facts are needed, what about Kartikeyan? Indian sponsors right?
Maybe Alex should start his own blog about racing, then maybe some of us would have some insight into what it takes to be a good race driver.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/motorsport/formul…
""His driver's contract was directly linked to sponsorship and I've actually said to his father that if he can help us collect the outstanding sponsorship that I'll go 50-50 on what we get." quote from the article above.
on second thought, maybe Alex's father did get some sponsorship for Alex, but was it considered, "forced".
sorry the comments turn out like this.
Haha…I know some of us bein bastards here. Sape makan cili rasa pedas lah. But all of us here wants more good race drivers to emerge from our beloved Bolehland. We want someone with a pure lust for winning. A lot of people got talent. Some of those AhBengs also got talents. But do we have a pure winning breed here? It is yet to be seen.
All the bashing on Yoong…well, probably he didn't deserve all the bashings but he needs more than luck to prove his worth. Money is almost everything in motorsports. Almost. Indeed, without the sacrifices he and his family has made, he would not be where he is today. F1 is a billion dollars industry. Not just a few hundreds of millions. The same goes with WRC.
When will we get to see a world champion in motorsports in Malaysia? We only have Karamjit so far winning APRC year after year (but still no sponsors, what a shame!) Yes, we have started somewhere. We have Kart Championship. But still how many of us here really get to hear about those races in the local media and newspapers? I'm saying that what the G and the media did was not enough. When Karamjit win his Group in Swedish Rally could you read it in the local newspaper? Why didn't they put him on the front page? These G people only talk-talk only and lack of action. AS ALWAYS!
As for Yoong, I'd bash him. Hehe. Admit that. But I do hope he will improve his performance. As he has the chance. I could only dream when he 1st got his Amatuer Driving Licence at 15. When I address my interest to my family, what my mom said was, "you want to suicide ka?" Aiyyoh! Talk about family support. Haizz!!
Anyway, cant wait to see Emerson Fittipaldi and Jan Lammers in action. And also how far Pippa has improve. Hehe. Cheers!
CarNut,
Actually, I did read it somewhere or saw on tv before regarding my earlier comments. If not, I wouldn't even have guessed that that was part of the condition. I honestly thought (just like most people, I guess), that he was good enough to be invited by Minardi to drive for them.
Again, the 64 thousand dollar question – why, if he was good enough to drive for Minardi, wasn't he also asked to drive for Sauber Petronas? If it was the car that wasn't performing, at the very least Petronas could've done was to let him test their car, seeing as that he is a fellow Malaysian and all.
I don't know, maybe they did ask him. And his time wasn't that good. Just guessing here.
I shall attempt a Sigmund Freud here… Hmm, interrresting! Verrrrrrry interrrresting! It was said that due to "A-lacks" participation in F1, the govt then got into the whole scene… Heck, they even built the SIC, which I presume is the Sepang International Circuit. But, here's the confusing part la. He only entered F1 in 2002, whereas Sepang was built in 1998. A case of "Back to the Future" maybe hmmm?
Ohh, and here's the list of winners from 1995 to 2005:
1995 = Schumi, 1996 = Damon Hill, 1997 = Villeneuve, 1998 = Hakkinen, 1999 = Hakkinen, 2000 = Schumi, 2001 = Schumi, 2002 = Schumi, 2003 = Schumi, 2004 = Schumi, 2005 = Alonso.
Surprising…. I sure as heck remember lots n lots n lots n lots of people talking about Prost, Senna, Mansell, Villeneuve, Schumi, Hakkinen, etc, waaaaaaay before 2002, which was when young Yoong broke onto the scene. Heck, you had Schumi supporters shouting "Ferrari power" and "Scuderia rules!" even though most of them didn't even know what Scuderia is. :P I think its more like this la; more Malaysians got hooked on the sport after the SIC opened in 1998, which remember, is FOUR years before you-know-who got into the scene.
I think the underlying sentiment of most of the bashers is; if he tried his best at the races i.e. pushed the car till its breaking point, then we wouldn't have any ammo to bang. Vitantonio Liuzzi even got 1 point in 2005! An absolute newbie to F1! Instead, our fella almost seemed to cruise around the circuits and was just happy to be there. Maybe we are all wrong in saying so. Get some tapes of races where he took part in, especially the one in Monte Carlo. Listen to what the commentator says… So, are the official F1 commentators wrong as well?
If you give it your absolute best like Karamjit and Nicol, no one will begrudge you. But if you're not even going to try hard and then offer all sorts of cock excuses to justify, then you deserve to be shot down!
mutant tomato ..
Please get your facts right.. in the days when alex was racing .. the picture was totally different from what it is today.. it is much easier for a back field driver to get points these days..
fyi – 2002 – points were only awarded until position 6
2005- points until position 8
( australia gp 2002 – alex finished 7th)
2002 – 110% ruling ..where cars that qualify slower than 110% percent of the fastest time would automatically be disqualified
2005- anyone can qualify.. no matter how slow they are
NOTE: The only time minardi scored points this season is in the USGP where only 6 cars were racing due to the michelin team strike. I think minardi would have scored points anyway even if they had an accident.
on your point about Liuzzi, he drove for Red Bull .. a car which is superior to minardi .. and they also have decent financial backing… red bull scored points quite consistantly in 05..
Now, i have to admit that Alex was rushed into F1..But im sure he did his best..i mean what did u expect ?? he had the worse car on track.. He is a much better racer now though.. I watch him race in indy cars acouple of years ago in monterey mexico.. (no experience driving an indy car, no testing ) just got in the car qualified and raced… and he finish in the points in 8th ..
Plus….
. would u just please watch the A1GP to see his performance. He is a quick starter, he uses his boosts well and quite aggressive as well..
Now unless you have some concrete evidence rather than just agreeing with what the commentators say ..i suggest you let the fella fly Malaysian flag in peace.
Interesting note about the points scoring changes, and its noted.
Still, I can't help but put Alex in the same league as PROTON. I'm mighty proud to be a Malaysian, but there's too many things going wrong in this country that you also can't help but feel helpless.
Most peple go from karts to F3 or FJapan and up to F1; Alex (and he was thrusted into it) did a reverse. After little measure of success in the lower races, Alex went to F1, and now he's back in lower races. I don't know about you guys, but I prefer to start with milk, then soft minerals, trhen proper baby food, then real food. I'd hate to think what the reverse of that can do to my bowels, and I doubt I'd like to eat baby food now!
PROTON: start with re-badging, go into own plaforms and how HEY PRESTO!, why not we look into VW platforms.
Sounds familiar?
Malaysia Boleh. Boleh apa? We'll get to that later…. :)
Mutanttomato,
Sepang Circuit project was started in 1996/7. This was after Alex left for the UK to pursue his F1 dreams. Bernie Ecclestone ( F1 Comercial Supremo) then sold the idea of a Malaysian driving in F1 on a Malaysian Circuit to our Govt. Like it or not Alex indirectly brought F1 to Malaysia.
I'm not saying F1 was unknown here. However the General Malaysian Public barely knew about Formula one.Only real motorsports fan knew. Heck Some people are askin who is this Fittipaldi (2x world Champion) and Jones ( Aussie F1 cahmpion and hero) fella comin to SIC… The general public knowledge of F1 began as Alex's involvement in single seater and SIC where built.
I used to laugh at these posers .(ferrari BTW has the biggest poser fans in malaysia). who thought Micheal only ever drove for Ferrari. The look of disbelieve that their great hero once drove a Jordan ….
If Malaysia want to promote motorsports internationally, why not invite the real professional drivers who can even beat Alex Yoong in the R3. There are many better drivers like Eddie Lew, Jimmy Low, Eric Yeo and Tommy Lee……even Hafizy Hafiz, why not let them drive in the race, extent the invitation to them la!maybe they might scare Fittipaldi a bit. Now these are the real drivers instead of those not so good drivers who only GILA GLAMOUR ONLY!!!!!.
Fariq, Yeah I agree Alex had the worse car on track, but look at all the other drivers who graduated to better teams and recently one of them became the F1 champion (Alonso) by driving the Minardi in the beginning…. I guess you should check your facts coz in F1 the teams bosses are always looking for new drivers who are capable and at Minardi is where they normally look at and sorry to say la, but Alex Yoong was never on their list. Why? You tell me.
Other drivers names worth mentioning who drove THAT WORSE CAR ON TRACK are Fisichella, Trulli, Webber and look where they are now.
Now, i have to admit that Alex was rushed into F1..But im sure he did his best..i mean what did u expect ?? he had the worse car on track..
Soperman,
i'd agree half of your earlier comments, i would guess that there would be a lot of speculation on Alex Yoongs capabilities againts a lot of other Malaysian talents. why don't the organizers invite them to race and put our arguments to rest whether Alex is good enough or just a lucky wussy. and i'd pay RM200 just to watch that race. but i'm no where near Malaysia. Sad :(.
another note to mention, Alex was the first Malaysian to attempt in F1, i would guess country like Italy, Brazil, Germany, UK and etc have much earlier experience in F1 and also their drivers. ok i'm switching the chanel here a bit, what about Kartikeyan?
Superman: Ehehehehe! I especially like the last part man! No insults to true Rossi Scuderia fans i.e. been supporting them from the days of Prost and even before. But for the morons who have jumped on the prancing horse's back ever since Schumi started winning titles; go back under the rock where you crawled out of man! Just like in football; When Arsenal suddenly started winning, you had yobs who don't know jack n shit about soccer proclaiming they were diehard Gunners fans. The same thing is happening with Roman's Army la… About footie, what cracks me up is when the so called Liverpool supporters call themselves "true Scousers." If ya don't know what a Scouse is, go Google it first. Then, think before calling yourself a lowlife/ scumbag/ undeucated/ thug/ scanger. :D
so many memories in F1 for me… The days when Prost and Senna were on the same team. There was one season where either one of them won every single race! Then when Prost went to Ferrari and Senna stayed behind in McLaren. Then the emergence of Nigel Mansell. Ohh, remember the days when it was MARLBORO McLaren? :D Marlboro sponsored the winning teams in both F1 and Moto GP; It was Marlboro McLaren driven by Senna in F1, and Marlboro Yamaha driven by Wayne Rainey in the Moto GP….
Heck, to deviate slightly, even the Moto GP was the bomb back then man! You had Wayne Rainey, Kevin Schwantz, Mick Doohan, Randy Mamola, Wayne Gardner, Eddie Lawson, etc… How could you not watch them in action? Nowadays the guys are good, but its not the same la… There's no "killer emotion" when you watch the races…
Heck, I even was going to give up watching F1 when all you saw every goddamned race was Schumi winning… It almost seemed like some conspiracy; lets keep the Scuderia fans happy… I'm a McLaren supporter and will always be, but hats off to Schumi. He is truly a master of the F1 car.
as for now.. we're 9th of 25th in A1..
btw,, previous 2 races we lose out mainly on pit stops…. our car really stopped in there… came in top10 ..got out last 5…
Alex n fairuz both did well..
of course some can argue that there r better drivers in msia…. but then we can also say that there r also better f1 drivers than alonso n schui..
they might be better but they r not good enough to be noticed… so still not good enough la,,,.. its all about d package.. ( know who,, know how, luck)
Wishing unconditionally for our A1 team success…
aiyo, those Alex bashes, do you really know what is motor sport racing? with so little time in F1 car testiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiing, you think you can really perform in the race ka? Or have you really watched the last 3 races in 2002 when Alex was quite competitive then. Aiyooooooo, those Alex basher, do you really know what is motorsport racing. Aiyooooooooo, I am really sorry for those ppl who only know how to bash when we are Malaysia Tak Boleh and what have you contributed to our motorsport beside your BASHING?
Aiyooooooooo…
Marmite my brother…. We shall cease and desist. Tis no point to put forth our arguements, be it logical and true.
Here's a lawak bodoh for you… what d'ya get when both our nicknames are combined? Marmite crab masak tomato! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! somebody shoot me for that lame ass joke…
BANG!
To all those Smarties out there: Philippa Yoong won gold medal in SEA Games 14 years ago, and she indeed participated in car races. To those who asked ‘how come Pippa can be termed as celebrity’: How u define celebrity? By showing body in stupid sitcoms and lame ghost movies, and behind the scene doing immoral things? To another smartie: Philippa Yoong is sister of Alex Yoong, not his wife.