NEWS

MAM incentive scheme attracts more newcomers for Malaysian rally

SUBANG (June 07, 2008) - The efforts of the Motorsports Association of Malaysia (MAM) to attract newcomers to compete to compete in rallies is beginning to pay off.

MAM, whose primary objective is to support the development of motorsports in the country, began offering the incentives this year and this has resulted in two more new entries signing up for this weekend's rally in Kuantan, taking the overall total of newcomers to eight.

"Rallying is one of many motorsports activities that we at MAM are trying to develop. To attract newcomers to rallying, MAM decided to offer each of them RM 1,500 per round this year beginning with the previous round in Kangar," said Mia Sharizman, MAM's Chief Executive.

While the sum may not seem much to many people, to the newcomers RM1,500 goes a long way to cover their costs. And since the incentives are offered for five rounds this season, that works out to RM7,500 for each newcomer.

For this weekend's Malaysian Rally Championship in Kuantan, two newcomers have signed up for the Clubman category. They are Nuzul Effendi Abd Tharim (25 years old) and Nor Hisyam Ismail (27 years old). With the new faces, the Clubman category now has eight entries.

"We are assisting a maximum of 10 drivers per round this season which means we can still accommodate two more rookies this year. We are considering increasing the numbers in 2009," said Mia Sharizman. "In total, MAM will contribute some RM75,000 under our rally incentive programme."

There are several pre-conditions to obtaining financial assistance from the MAM. First of all, the drivers must be registered in the Clubman Class Category of the MRC. They must be private entries and Malaysian citizens aged between 18-30 years. The cars driven must also be locally manufactured in addition to being two-wheel drive cars.

The MAM Incentive Programme for the MRC is aimed at increasing the pool of new drivers coming into the sport. With the government's aim of hosting a round of the World Rally Championship, it is necessary that more local drivers are developed.

"In recent years, the number of new drivers participating in the sport has been very low. We hope that through this incentive programme, more new drivers will be encouraged to participate in the MRC. With the likelihood of the WRC coming to our shores, we must develop a new breed of local rally drivers. So when the WRC if finally staged here, we will have an impressive line-up of experienced rally drivers. We have also started a new TV Reality Show called "Malaysia Next Rally Champion" to be aired on ASTRO from October in search for new talents below the age of 30 years old," commented Tengku Shaharin Abu Bakar, the Director of Wheel Sport Management.