GR Young Talent Development Program Archives

The Father and Daughter racers in the Vios Challenge

When a father has a passion for a sport, it often gets picked up by his children too and as they grow up, they learn the skills from him and can one day also become stars. In many cases, it’s often the boys who get the father’s encouragement and support but in Eddie Lew’s case, it’s his daughter and clearly, he believes that the sport is not restricted to just males.

So at this weekend’s Season 5 opening round of the Vios Challenge one-make race series (part of the TOYOTA GAZOO Racing Festival) at the Sepang International Circuit, we have the presence of a father and daughter in the racing. It is probably the first such pair in Malaysian motorsports and while they are not racing directly against each other (in the same class) or even on the same team, perhaps one day that might happen.

Exposed to racing since 3 years old
Eddie’s daughter is Adele, 20, who’s been tagging along with him and his friends to races since she was 3 years old. “He used to compete a lot at the then Pasir Gudang Circuit (Johor Circuit), and I’ve been following him to all his races ever since, from the Malaysia Championship Series and the MSF Series to the Sepang 1000km Endurance Race,” Adele said, revealing that she started driving fun karts only last year and just managed to do it for a month before the Movement Control Order (MCO) came into force.

She is currently an undergraduate at one of the private institutions of higher learning in Kuala Lumpur and her father resides in Johor. So Adele’s training sessions have since gone online with the two spending hours communicating. “Believe me, our calls can last for hours with super long conversations on racing!” she revealed.

“When we’re together, he makes me drive a manual transmission car and we spend time on the racing simulator where he teaches me to become familiar with the many racing lines and braking points,” added Adele.

GR Young Talent Development Program
While her father, an accomplished racing veteran with a history that dates back to the early 90s, inspires her, Adele has also been given an opportunity to develop her racing skills through the TOYOTA GAZOO Racing Malaysia/GR Young Talent Development Program. She is among the six young Malaysians who make up the second batch of the program. Candidates selected are between the ages of 16 and 20 who are keen to transition from karting and simulator racing to real-world saloon car racing. It is part of UMW Toyota Motor’s initiative to provide young drivers with a platform to climb the motorsports ladder, and to bring new blood into the sport.

The GR Young Talent Development Program provides intensive training just like what professional racing drivers go through. Simulator time is an important activity and top Malaysian drivers provide valuable guidance.

Adele and the other 5 rookies have undergone systematic training which covers core aspects of becoming a professional driver. From top drivers like Alex Yoong, Tengku Djan Ley and Mark Darwin, they learn racecraft and how to prepare themselves in fitness, nutrition and even psychologically. It is quite an intensive program and when they have graduated, they are given opportunities to race in the Vios Challenge and other events, as Adele will be doing this year.

“Compared to the others, I am a real beginner with limited experience and that means I have to put in twice the effort. We’ll see how things go as the season progresses, but I’d really like to get on to the podium and make my Dad proud. From several sessions on the track with the Vios racing car and being guided by several different coaches – some of whom were last year’s Rookie Class racers – I’ve learnt a lot especially in mentally preparing myself. And the car is also very easy to drive,” she said.

Not racing directly against Dad – yet
Technically, Adele will be competing in the Rookie Class (for the graduates of the program) while her father is in the Super Sporting Class for veteran and professional drivers. However, father and daughter will be in the same race as the two classes run together. So who knows – Dad might just see his daughter’s car appearing in his mirrors one day!

“This is a very special moment for the both of us. In order for me to be able to race my father shows just how long he has been in motorsport. This is going to be a whole new experience for the two of us and my dad is equally very excited. He is definitely the best mentor I could have ever hoped for to prepare for my first ever race weekend,” said Adele.

Racing fans and enthusiasts have been able to catch the weekend’s action and stage performances by local celebrities streamed live on the UMW Toyota Motor website at www.toyota.com.my and on the Toyota Malaysia and TOYOTA GAZOO Racing Malaysia Facebook pages

UMW Toyota Motor starts GAZOO Racing Young Talent Development Program

Naquib Azlan shows that sim racers can also perform well in real-world racing

It’s always been an interesting question – does racing on simulators help to develop driving skills? A whole generation has now grown up on sim racing and there are some very skilled racers in the online world who even race against the real-world racers like F1 drivers. What if they are put inside a real racing car… would they be able to perform just as well?

TOYOTA GAZOO Racing Malaysia and UMW Toyota Motor are finding out with their GR Young Talent Development Program which started last year and the first batch of rookies, most of whom have been racing in the virtual world for many years, are taking to the track this weekend in the first round of the TGR Festival Vios Challenge at the Sepang Racing Circuit.

They have been given training which has been rigorous both physically and mentally, with guidance from veterans like Alex Yoong and Tengku Djan, the latter a champion in the Vios Challenge. The cars are also provided, and all are prepared to have identical performance so it is really down to driver skill and strategy.

Naquib Azlan, one of the rookies, has ‘driven’ thousands of laps around the Sepang International Circuit – in the virtual world – so he is thoroughly familiar with the layout and would have learnt the fastest lines through the turns. However, for the qualifying laps and the real race today and tomorrow, he will be racing only on half the circuit, otherwise known as the North Track.

From his performance, it seems that all those thousands of laps have helped him as he clocked the fastest time in the official practice session of the Vios Challenge. And it’s the first time the 20-year old is doing a saloon car race. He clocked 1 min:26.614 seconds to post the fastest time of the day from a field of 45 racers who included celebrity, amateur and professional drivers, completing a total of 29 laps in official practice and another 20 laps in unofficial practice.

*Walking around the circuit to study the surface and the corners is what the professional drivers do, Guiding Naquib and the rookies is Alex Yoong, one of the instructors.*

“Yesterday was mainly about getting as much information as I could, especially running on newer tyres, and to prepare the car for today’s race. The main aim was to prepare for this race weekend – no intention of becoming quickest,” said Naquib, who has qualified in pole position on the starting grid with a time of 1:26.012 after completing the Qualifying session.

“It definitely came as a surprise to me to post the fastest time. We (the rookie racers) are sharing the same grid with some of Malaysia’s best drivers – racers like Tengku Djan Ley, Mark Darwin and Hayden Haikal and they are all super quick. I didn’t expect to be the quickest but I believed I had the capability to be close to them and it was nice to do have been able to that…This is my first ever race in real life,” he said.

Naquib agreed that all the hours on a simulator have paid off in being super beneficial in preparing him for his real-world racing debut. In the simulator he has used, it has not been in a Toyota Vios but that has not made a difference as he settled into the racing car provided by TOYOTA GAZOO Racing.

Toyota GR Velocity Championship — *UMW Toyota Motor and GAZOO Racing Malaysia have been supporting eSports which sees strong participation from sim racers, some of whom can now transition to real-world racing like Naquib.*

“In sim you don’t feel anything, unlike the sensation of being in a real racing car. It’s not 100% the same as when driving with the simulator but what you learn in sim in terms of entry speed, how much braking you use, and how early you can be on the throttle definitely translated perfectly for me in real life and really helped me prepare for this weekend. I try to perfect this in sim so that when I jump into a real race car and I have that extra sensation it becomes easier,” Naquib explained.

“Being able to drive to the limit and being on the limit is a skill that is very difficult and that was what I wanted to find. I would add that the Vios is rewarding to drive and I get much confidence even though it is new to me,” he said.

Practice is one thing, the real race, however, can be an entirely a different story. “The way I mentally prepare is I focus on what I have to do for the race. I don’t focus on what the other competitors are doing because this is when you start to get nervous and over-think things. I focus on the job I have to do and what I have to do to achieve the outcome I want – and that job this weekend is to drive fast and win!” he said.

The GR Young Talent Development Program aims to develop the best talents across the country and propel grassroots racing to the pro stage. With guidance, careful and proper nurture, young drivers like Naquib and the other five drivers are now on the journey to becoming a champion.

Click here to read about the first day of the TGR Festival/Vios Challenge Season 4

UMW Toyota Motor starts GAZOO Racing Young Talent Development Program

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