NSTOnline - eRacing Grand Prix Sea tournament coming next month - 2 May 2019
Deputy sports minister, Steven Sim Chee Keong (seated, right) has lauded the initiatives by Alex Yoong and Axle Motorsport, expressing confidence that the eRacing Grand Prix Sea tournament in June will be able to produce more local talent who are eagerly determined to take part in real life motorsports through an actual, legal platform. (PIC BY OWEE AH CHUN)
KUALA LUMPUR: Motorsports enthusiasts in the country would have a better chance of becoming a motor racing star following the introduction of eRacing Grand Prix Sea tournament in June.
The founder of Axle Motorsport, Alex Yoong, said the electronic game tournament would be the stepping stone for young motorsport enthusiasts to move into the real life motorsport.
Yoong who is the first-ever Malaysian F1 driver from 2001 to 2002 with now defunct Minardi, revealed the top 40 participants from the tournament will be trained to become real race car drivers by professional driving coaches.
“This tournament is not a new idea as it has been done before and it has been done prior to this with Nissan. Some achieved success and some of them failed, but it is the first time we are doing it regionally.
“We carry out talent development and professional driving coaching which is dear to my heart, and I feel many people want to be in motorsport, but they can’t due to several reasons,” he told reporters after the launch of the tournament by deputy sports minister, Steven Sim Chee Keong, here, earlier today (Thursday).
Meanwhile, Sim lauded the initiatives by Axle Motorsport and is confident the tournament will be able to produce more local talent who are eagerly determined to take part in real life motorsports through an actual, legal platform.
“I feel that eRacing has a huge potential in this country as eSports (electronic sports) nowadays is focusing more on electronic games such as Dota, Fifa and etc.
“eRacing is similar to real life motorsports and therefore, the useful knowledge the participants gain from this tournament can be transferred onto the real racetrack,”Sim added.
In this regard, Sim added that the government are in the midst of finalising the blueprint on the development of eSports in the country which will be announced soon by Sports Minister, Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman.
After Malaysia, the eRacing tournament will move to several Asean countries, namely, the Philippines, Indonesia, Singapore, Vietnam and Thailand.
The winner of each country’s tournament will be trained and offered a spot in Formula 4’s South East Asia Championship (F4SEA), as the first step in their path to becoming professional racing drivers. Bernama