AIR ASIA MALAYSIA Wildcard MotoGP 2009

The AirAsia Malaysia 125cc MotoGP Team was launched today at the Sepang International Circuit (SIC) by Air Asia CEO Dato Tony Fernandes along with SIC Chairman Dato Mokhzani Mahathir, SIC CEO Razlan Razali, Motorsports Association of Malaysia CEO MIA Shazriman and Ron Hogg of Two Wheels Motor Racing. It came as a big surprise to everyone that came as instead of entering one rider as previously announced the Malaysian Wildcard program organiser decided to put two riders – 25-year-old Elly Idzlianizar Ilias and 18-year-old Mohd Zulfahmi Khairuddin – on the starting grid come this October 24 in the 125cc class at SIC.

“I went to a football match and the Malaysians there were wearing MU shirts, when F1 is in town everybody will be wearing a Ferrari shirt, now when Malaysian fans come to MotoGP, they can come and support our very own riders and wear their colours with pride,” said Dato Tony Fernandes.

“I’m excited about this venture, especially after looking at the actual bike and the liveries, we would love to have the bike entering all the other rounds in the MotoGP races.

We give our full support to this team, which aims to push forward Malaysia’s standing in the global scene and burnish the Malaysian brand.  We look forward to seeing our own Malaysian team reap honors for the entire country,” added Tony. Tony and AirAsia Deputy Group CEO Kamarudin Meranun are avid supporters of the 1Malaysia initiative and have been instrumental in the formation of the 1Malaysian F1 Team. Elly, who has been designated first rider, will be using a 125cc Aprillia race bike prepared by Team Ongetta ISPA.

His appointment as first rider was made after careful consideration by the parties involved in the program, including Ongetta Team ISPA. After more than few thousand kms of track time and short listed to the final two riders, the judgment day came when the Italian Team, Team Ongetta ISPA led by its Team Principal, Fiorenzo Caponera was in town on the second day of Raya last month.

“The two boys impressed the Italians and especially us. We looked at the times set over the three days and we could not believe how well both boys performed at such short period of time,” said Razlan.

“It reinforced our belief that we have plenty of talents in Malaysia, we just need to support them by creating a proper full frame championship that is internationally competitive, a series that serves as a platform for the boys to compete in other international championship.”

The riders were chosen from a pool of 19 riders who compete in the current Petronas Sprinta Malaysian Cub Prix Championship and the Malaysian Super Series Bikerz Mag 150cc Cup.

“We have worked extremely hard to carefully identify these riders and have made plans to provide them with all the support they need, whether it’s motivational or technical,”  said Razlan.

Officially launched on May 13 at Sri Pentas TV3 at Bandar Utama, the riders – all aged between 15 and 28 –undergo a three-day trial from May 14 at Sepang Circuit where they were evaluated on their riding skills and techniques on Yamaha 125cc machines. The panel of judges included Shahrul Yuzy, former 250cc rider; Fuad Baharuddin of  Asian Super Sport Rider; Ron Hogg from TWMR; Wan Razali Wan Mamat from MAM; Razlan Razali from SIC; and Razak Malique from Junior GP Sdn. Bhd. Since the first month the two riders have been undergoing a comprehensive training program at SIC under the guidance of Shahrol Yuzy.  They also go through a physical training program with personal trainer Roman Engel. The program was mooted at last year’s  MotoGP which saw a Wildcard entry by Thailand. “We are organizing it but we don’t have our own rider in it.  This year we have two racing under the Malaysian flag,” exclaimed Razlan. The 2009 Malaysian Wildcard Program is a result of collaboration between Sepang International Circuit and its partners in motorsports – Motorsports Association of Malaysia, Automobile Association of Malaysia, Two Wheels Motor Racing, Moto Millia and Hong Leong Yamaha.

“A wild card program such as this requires financial assistance from all sectors, the private and public sector. With that I must sincerely thank Kementrian Belia & Sukan, AAM and MAM for their contribution to make this effort a reality. When we planned this wild card program, we did not have any source of funding. We took a huge risk. Some of the expenses are borne by the organisers, SIC contributed as much as possible, providing the necessary track times. As the program develops and progresses, when there is visibility and publicity, only then contributions from the Government and association came into play. However, like most sports and especially motorsport, it is always not enough. That is until Dato Tony Fernandes came along and without a blink of an eye, we shook hands and Air Asia became the title sponsor of the Air Asia Malaysia Wildcard team. Dato Tony Fernandes are avid supporters of the 1Malaysia initiative and have been instrumental in the formation of the 1Malaysian F1 Team. In fact, Dato Tony’s support for the wild card team came first before he submitted his application to the FIA into F1 in 2010,” said Razlan