SIC hoping to nurture young talent by hosting schoolkids

IN another effort to nurture the young, generating deeper interest and building a tradition of motorsports amongst Malaysians, Sepang International Circuit (SIC) hosted some 2,000 schoolchildren to an experience of a lifetime.

They were given a closer look at the worlds fastest and most powerful racing machines on two wheels at the circuit.

The students moved from pit garage to garage, snapping photos with cameras and their mobile phones with some immediately uploading the pictures to Facebook and Twitter to share with their envious friends at home.

Some even had the opportunity to take photographs with the riders as they mingled with thousands of eager Grandstand ticket holders for photo opportunities and freebies handed out by the competing teams during the onehour session.

Said SIC chief executive offier Datuk Razlan Razali: “This session has always been a big attraction with the fans and every year we have massive crowd joining us on the Friday public pit walk, which we opened for free to all Grandstand ticket holders and special invited groups.

“This year we worked with Dutch Lady Malaysia to bring 2,000 school children from 30 selected schools in Kuala Lumpur, Selangor, Negri Sembilan and Putrajaya for the show.

“I am happy to note that they are having the time of their lives.”

SIC are hosting Round 16 of the FIM MotoGP World Championship, which features three categories – the 1,000cc prototype MotoGP class, the 600cc Moto2 class and the new 250cc Moto3 class, which was introduced this year to replace the 125cc class.

“For Malaysia to progress further and prosper in motorsports, consistent efforts needs to be undertaken to nurture interest amongst the young. They are the future of Malaysia’s motorsports and we need to create motorsports as a tradition and a lifestyle.

“On our part, we will continue to organise programmes like this to involve the school children.

”Here, at the pit walk, the youngsters are exposed to the technological side of MotoGP. They were given a thorough explanation about the workings of the bike by the riders and technical staff and how they prepare the machines. These are all interesting stuff for the young.”