DRIVEN TO WIN

MITCHELL CHEAH 24 Professional Racing Driver

Mitchell Cheah is a rising star in motorsports with an impressive roster of achievements. At just 24 years of age, the young driver has spent half his life on the racetrack. “I got into racing because it was my dad’s passion. When I was 11, he took me go-karting and later asked if I had any interest in racing. I started to race competitively at 12 and made a career for myself,” Mitchell explains.

By age 17, Mitchell was racing both go-karts and cars. He would go on to join his first single-seater race in the Formula Renault held in China, winning three local touring car races in a saloon car and clinching first runner-up in his first Sepang 1000km Endurance Race in a privateer team. By 2017, Mitchell was driving heavily modified road-going cars, otherwise dubbed touring cars, typically based on family cars such as hatchbacks and sedans. That year, he won the National Driver of the Year title at the Shell SIC Motorsports Association of Malaysia Awards organised by Sepang International Circuit.

“I never actually envision myself not racing. I know of world champions in touring car series well into their 60s – if they can go on at that age, I hope I can too,” Mitchell admits. But the road had its speed bumps, and finding funding was always challenging. “I was supposed to stop racing in 2017, but winning the championship opened doors. Sepang had started a talent development programme, and I was successfully selected. They funded my races in the 2018 and 2019 World Touring Car Series from Asia to Germany until the pandemic hit.”

Mitchell was the first Asian driver in the Touring Car Series in Germany in 2019, and he regards the achievement as a significant milestone. In 2021, Mitchell was also announced as one of the Hyundai Junior Drivers, clearing the road for the talented young driver to keep pursuing his dreams. “For now, I’m focusing on local racing, but I hope I can return to international courses soon.”