Sunday, October 28, 2007

Images of First Speedway International Cup in Asia - 3







What a night it was...a really historical occasion that many would have regretted missing...

More action photos below and full event media report plus results below.
All photos are high resolution (please click each photo to enlarge)...for more photos and for even higher resolution photos please contact: office@speedwaymalaysia.com

Images of First Speedway International Cup in Asia - 2






Images of First Speedway International Cup in Asia - 1






New Zealand's Ricky Wells wins Asia's first International Speedway Cup in Malaysia





Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia - Sunday, 28 Oct 2007: New Zealand's 16 year old Ricky Wells thrilled thousands with dominant skills to win Asia's first ever FIM sanctioned speedway event held in Malaysia, the Malaysian International Speedway Cup, in Kuala Lumpur last night (27th Oct). He scored the maximum 12 points in the heats and recorded the fastest ever time at Speedway Malaysia's Family Park track with a time of 56.68s in heat 3.

Sam Taylor, 26, also from New Zealand but competing under the Australian flag won 2 heats and scored 12 points in the preliminar heats, tried hard to beat Wells in the grand final race but had to settle for second.

Competing for Britain after a long layoff from speedway, Linden Warner beat Japan's Hideaki Ota to third to grab the last podium spot.

Five young Malaysians who had never riden a 500cc speedway bike before 5 weeks ago could not match the winners over four laps but they won the crowd's and the foreign riders respect as they were able to race them for the initial laps.

Eighteen year old Mohd Helmey Hamzah eventually won the consolation final to win the coveted "best Malaysian" trophy from 21 year old reserve rider Mohd Ariff Mohd Ali. Ariff replaced Rody Sofian Buang after Rody had to retire from a recurring collar bone problem after a fall in heat 4.

The glittering prize presentation ceremony complete with the raising of the national flags and the winner's national anthem and confetti was officiated by the Deputy Minister of Youth & Sports Malaysia, Dato' Liow Tiong Lai.

At the post event press conference after his win, a jubilant Wells praised the Malaysian organisers and the Malaysian rookies for putting up a very good show saying, "This is my first international and I'm very happy to be on the record as the first ever winner of a first winner of an Asia Speedway Cup. The organising was very slick and the Malaysian boys amazed me with their performance as they had so little time on a proper speedway bike before this as compared to my 8 years in the sport. The sport can go very far in Malaysia."

“It was not an easy win … Sam was very fast as well and always pushing me from behind and I had to stay focus and push all the way throughout the race,” added Wells, whose achievement list included the 2007 US under-21 overall champion and the US Youth National Champion titles in 2005 and 2004.

Taylor had similar praises for the Malaysians, "I was here in July to demo the 500cc speedway bike in Malaysia's first ever speedsway event when not a single Malaysian has ever riden in speedway before. They had then just started on the 115cc small bikes. In a little over 3 months and a bit, they suddenly have a dozen Malaysian capable of racing with riders with 8 and more years experience. The Malaysians will definitely be giving us a big hurry up in next year's Malaysian International Speedway Cup."

“Looking at the event, I feel that the prospect of the sports progressing further is very good. The cost of having the speedway tracks and organizing the races are quite low as compared to many other events,” said Deputy Minister of Youth & Sports Dato' Liow, who also proposed that speedway tracks be built in all the states to popularize the sport further.

“Speedway racing has proven to be a popular sport among our youths especially among our rempits (illegal road racers).There is definitely a huge market for the sport and I hope more parties will come forward and play their part in promoting this sport,” he added.

Meanwhile, Malaysian Best rider, 18 year old Muhammad Helmy Hamzah thanked his family and friends for his achievement. “Speedway has changed me from a former rempit (illegal road racer) to a professional rider. This sport has taught me to be a disciplined and a better person. It’s the best thing that has happened to me,” he said.

Representing Speedway Malaysia, Hanifah Yoong said the good progress of this new sport of speedway in Malaysia owes it's success to many people and organisations, "Without the foresight of the Minister of Youth & Sports Malaysia, Dato' Seri Azalina to support the implementation of the speedway project, the invaluable advice of Ivan Mauger, the support of the FIM and AAM, the training of key officials by Matthias Rohde and the coacing of Linden Warner as well as the dedication of the scores of officials and riders, we will not be here tonight celebrating the year's efforts in this prestigious and historical event which Malaysia made her mark."

Speedway Malaysia also announced that next season's 2008 calendar will be released shortly before the end of November.

FULL RESULTS:
1. Ricky Wells (NZL), 2. Sam Taylor (AUS), 3. Linden Warner (GBR), 4. Hideaki Ota (JPN), 5. Mohd Helmy Hamzah (MAL), 6. Mohd Ariff Mohd Ali, 7. Mohd Abdussobur Turino (MAL), 8. Mohd Haniff Borhan (Malaysia)

Thursday, October 11, 2007

Selamat Hari Raya to all! Come watch our boys race international racers on 500cc bikes after Raya...

Rody, Helmy, Abdussobur & Haniff will race Ricky Wells (NZL), Sam Taylor (AUS, Hideaki Ota (JPN) & Linden Warner (GBR), with Ariff, Azizi and Nazrie as reserves at Bukit Jalil on the 27 Oct 2007 starting from 8.30pm... (click on image to enlarge)


The first International Speedway Cup week will open one week before 27 Oct with the first Malaysian National Speedway Championships... (click on image to enlarge)


SELAMAT HARI RAYA AIDIL FITRI!
Have a safe journey home or to whatever destination you are going to...


Do come over to the Bukit Jalil Family Park Speedway circuit on the 20 & 21 Oct to watch Malaysia's best 12 Speedway racers fight to claim Malaysia's first National Championship title. Rd. 1 & 2 will be run on Saturday, 20 Oct starting from 5pm. Rd. 3 & 4 will be on Sunday, 21 Oct also starting from 5pm.



The curtain raiser above will be followed by the 2007 season climax where our magnificent 7 will take on some of the world's top Speedway racers on the night of 27 Oct starting from 8.30pm.


Admission is free for all the above events.

Monday, October 1, 2007

Images of Excitement & Celebration at Speedway Malaysia (part 1)







Each photo tells a thousand words!
Click on each photo to enlarge...

Nazrie of Team Titiwangsa crowned Speedway Malaysia NFC Open champion

Nazrie wins round 4 and takes the Open championship...
Nazrie in action...
Ivan Mauger congratulates Nazrie at the post race press conference...
The top 3 of round 4 at the podium...


Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia– Monday, 30 September 2007: Seasoned racer Nazrie Ramli won an action-packed and dramatic Round 4 of the NFC Open Speedway Malaysia 2007 at the Malaysian Speedway Circuit near the Bukit Jalil Sports Complex last night to take the overall crown of Malaysia’s newest motor racing series.

Nazrie, 28 of Team Titiwangsa who also races go-karts and saloon cars, kept his composure to win a hugely tense final race, which was twice restarted after the riders got themselves entangled and crashed as they attacked the corners in their efforts to surge ahead of their rivals.

“It was a very hard and very tense final race. Everybody was equally good and everybody desperately wants to win. Everybody was trying to get the best racing line and I am glad that I eventually won the race,” said Nazrie, who also won Round 3 a fortnight ago and ended the championship with a massive 46 points to take the overall title.

Mohd Azlan Abdullah of Nova Racing Team who finished third for the round, took second overall with 36 points while Azmi Kaseran of Team Seri Putera is third in the overall standings with 35 points. Scoring his first podium win with second placing at Round 4 last night, Nova Racing’s Amli Jamat is fourth overall with 33 points.

Watched by nine-time world Speedway champion and Speedway Malaysia’s Rider Development Director Ivan Mauger together with some 500 Speedway fans, Nazrie intelligently focused on his strategy by taking things easy in the heats, to finish fifth to place himself among the 10 qualifiers for the semi-finals.

“When I first tried this new event, I sincerely did not believe that I would end up as the overall champion. It’s a dream come true. I like to thank my family, friends and team members as well as the guidance and patience of the Speedway coaches – Ivan Mauger and Linden Warner. I would like to thank everyone from the bottom of my heart,” said Nazrie.

“Now that I am champion, I aim to go all the way…to do my best in the Malaysian National Speedway Championship and then hopefully be selected to represent Malaysia at the first ever FIM Malaysian International Speedway Cup,” he added.

Unlike the NFC Speedway Championships and the upcoming national event where riders would compete on the 115cc Speedway machines, the international championship would be competed on the powerful Speedway 500cc bikes.

Built by Speedway Malaysia, the machines had already been tested upon by Nazrie and six other selected riders since early September to prepare them for the Oct 27 event.

A total of six teams competed in last night’s race. The teams are Team Titiwangsa, Team Maxi Alpha, Nova Racing Team, Team Seri Putra, Team Motivasi and Team Samudera. Last night’s race was also the finale of the NFC Speedway championships. Organised by the Malaysia Motorsports Organisers and Competitors Association (MMOCA) and promoted by Speedway Malaysia, the NFC Speedway Championships series were held every Saturday night from July 21 at the Bukit Jalil Sports Complex’s Speedway Circuit.

The twelve top Speedway riders from the championships will compete in the Malaysian National Speedway Championship on 20 and 21 October. Speedway Malaysia has also shortlisted seven riders to be evaluated by Ivan Mauger. Of the seven, four riders will be selected to represent Malaysia in the the FIM Malaysian International Speedway Cup 2007 on Oct 27.

Top six results, Round 4, Open: Nazrie Ramli / Team Titiwangsa (12 pts), Amli Jamat / Nova Racing Team (11 pts), Mohammad Azlan Abdullah/ Nova Racing Team (10 pts), Mohd Saufi Wang / Team Seri Putra (9 pts), Azmi Kaseran / Team Seri Putera (8 pts), Nur Azman Masdar / Team Titiwangsa (7 pts)

Top 6 championship points after Round 4: Champion: Nazrie Ramli / Team Titiwangsa (46 pts), Runner-up: Mohammad Azlan Abdullah/ Nova Racing Team (36 pts), 3rd: Azmi Kaseran/ Team Seri Putra (35 pts), 4th: Amli Jamat / Nova Racing Team (33 pts), 5th: Nur Azman Masdar / Team Titiwangsa (27 pts), 6th: Rody Sofian Buang / Team Seri Putra (24 pts)