The formation of the Cisco Racing team will serve as a stepping stone for Karamjit Singh, as the “Flying Sikh” is aiming for a return to a bigger stage, the Asia-Pacific Rally Championship (APRC). However, Karamjit will first need to cross a few hurdles before this can come into fruition.
According to Cisco managing director Rabin Nijhar, round one of the 2021 Malaysian National Rally Championship (MRNC) from June 26-27 will the first stage to determine the relevancy of the partnership with Karamjit. An encouraging result – be it a win or close to winning – will allow Cisco Racing to proceed to the next stage, which is to become the overall MRNC champion this season.
If these two targets are met, Cisco Racing will set up a platform to welcome assistance from larger parties that not only have the funds, but are more experienced in the world of rallying. With the newfound support, Cisco Racing will then proceed to compete on an international level at the APRC with Karamjit.
Should everything fall in place, a Proton Iriz R5 is expected to join the team around February or March next year. The rally machine is developed by Mellors Elliot Motorsport (MEM) in the United Kingdom and was responsible for the Group N-winning Proton PERT (Petronas Eon Racing Team) in the FIA Production Car World Rally Championship. The outfit also developed the Satria Neo S2000.
Rabin noted that for those who are interested to work with Cisco Racing and be involved in this project, they can do so immediately and not have to wait for the first two targets to be met.
Karamjit has already expressed his interest to compete on an international level previously, and that mission received the support of the ministry of youth and sports. Back in December 2020, it was reported that the ministry will seek sponsors for the RM3 million needed, although this is still ongoing with no good news from either side for now.
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Karamjit could do better by training young talents.
Haven’t seen any young talents in the world of rallying TBH. This sport is even harder than F1. Just look at all the Finnish F1 world champions who retired from F1 just to go into WRC because it’s a lot more challenging.
The problem with karam. Its always just about him, him and him. and now at 59 years old, its still about him.
We have not seem him helping to groom new rally talemts, unlike how former motorcycle racers are grooming next generation riders.
What happened to him is unfortunate, but it is also caused by himself.
You cannot expect others to pump money endlessly to you. But in this case with cisco, he succeeded. Good luck and all the best to karam and all the people behind this new venture.
Seancorr, no young talents?
The problem with rallying is that, it is not a television sport or a spectator sport. You race around all by yourself in challenging areas.
another problem is that not many car manufacturers are interested in rallying, and homologated cars for rallying now can be counted in 1 hand.
before talking about young talents, we need to make sure that there are malaysian rallying events in the first place.
then a special cup for youngsters like the cubprix wira cup needs to be created, say for movices below 23 years old. A single formula can be enforced, say a “Formula 1000” for 1000cc cars. This can consist of
– kancil with kelisa/kenari/viva/axia engines
– kelisa
– viva
– axia
– suzuki alto
all to say a group N+ specs only to ensure cheap racing costs.
winning prize could be a fully paid drive on say a satria neo in MRC in the next season.
dont waste money racing dy lah, in this pandemic season..save money for the rain days..bye
I feel sorry for your sad life bro, I really do.