Fatal incidents: Yuzy lambasts authorities, says political connections at play, Ministry complicit
EXCLUSIVE
SYDI ALIF24 Jan 2023 09:27am
The moment when a racing incident turned into a fatal incident at the Dato Sagor Circuit in Perak on New Year's Eve, when an out-of-control race car veered off the track and ploughed uito spectators in an unprotected area.
The fatal incident at the BTOK even in Gong Badak, Terengganu in October last year saw a driver killed after his car ran into a tree. The event was uinsanctioned by the motorsports governing body.
Federal Territory Motorsports Association president Shahrol Yuzy Ahmad Zaini
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In fact, Federal Territory Motorsports Association president Shahrol Yuzy Ahmad Zaini revealed that some organisers of unsanctioned motorsports events, seen to be bereft of safety measures and infrastructure, may have been motivated to go ahead with such events due to political links, including support from the Youth and Sports Ministry.
Yuzy suggested some organisers may have networks and political backing, used to protect them in the event of adverse incidents.
"Some of these events have been conducted in the presence of police, while some even display the Youth and Sports Ministry's emblem on their banners," he said.
This indicated that police permits for such events may have legitimised them despite lacking adequate safety measures, and while supported by the ministry despite not being sanctioned by the governing body for motorsports, invites a recipe for disaster.
"Such acts are what contradict the enforcement of Motorsports Association of Malaysia (MAM) rules. While politicians may use such events to gain political mileage, it should not go against the law," Yuzy said.
"As this involves lives, when nothing happens, it's fine. One might boast, 'Come on, I've done this for 10 years, nothing happened,' but if something did, those 10 years were a waste."
He was responding to comments from the motorsports community, urging the government to look into the prevalance of fatal incidents at unsanctioned motorsports events, the latest being at CCT Battle of Champions at the Dato Sagor Circuit in Perak on New Year's Eve, where a spectator was killed by an out-of-control vehicles that ploughed into spectators in an unprotected area.
In an earlier incident, in Battle of The King (BOTK) 2022 at the Terengganu Race Track in Gong Badak On Oct 16 last year, a driver was killed after he lost control of his car, which then ran into a tree.
Witnesses had alleged then that the event was supported by the Youth and Sports Ministry, as its logo was displayed on the event's promotional banners.
That might not have been the only such event supported by the Yout and Sports Ministry.
Yuzy opined that the organisers or circuit operators should have taken the initiative to engage with authorities such as MAM before holding the races.
"If granted sanction by them, perhaps they would have received adequate safety advice," said the former 250cc World Championship rider.
"While accidents or deaths may still take place, it could at least reduce its severity and frequency. For me, it was notably dangerous how the circuit at Dato Sagor did not have a fence to prevent vehicles from veering out of the circuit and into spectators," he recalled an accident at the CCT Battle of Champions on Dec 31.
Yuzy said he was not aware of any complications that may have arised for organisers or operators in applying for events to be sanctioned, but shared that from his own experience of racing, the sanctioning process with MAM was easy.
"Perhaps, it was a financial obstacle since there is a fee, they will come over to check the track and there will be a steward as well as a clerk of course (COC) during the race, so maybe they could not afford the cost.
"MAM on the other hand, needs to get on the ground and discuss with organisers to reach an agreement. When there is no common ground, that's where the problem comes in," he revealed.
Yuzy pointed out that some organisers do know that they need their events to be sanctioned, yet they either can't bear the bill or do not know how to reach out to MAM, which is something that the body needs to look into.
He reiterated that there may be a motivation to run unsanctioned races to maximise profits, as some organisers were protected by political links, thus believe they can get away with neglecting safety measures.
The former rider admitted that one of the challenges in curbing the spread of such negligence is the interference of politicians who protect organisers holding races without sanction.
While MAM should be able to take action on non-sanctioned events, there are approvals coming from certain entities especially the politicians and police do provide permits, hinting at a further disconnect between motorsports and the authoroties.
He questioned, "Who would want to speak up to them? What are the consequences? This is troublesome. How do we overcome it? We need to sit down together and connect without quarrelling."
Most importantly, he said, motorsports was undeniably dangerous, but the way to go about minimising its risk, is by coming together to achieve a comprehensive understanding on the subject of sanctioning.
Meanwhile, he did not deny that there were organisers of the mindset that, "If death was on its way, then it would arrive anyway even if we paid for sanction."
In response to such outlook, he raised the need to brush off the negativity beforehand with positivity.
"Even if something were to happen, we must be prepared, and accept if it still got in the way afterwards."
He added that the MAM also needed to view races such as one at Dato Sagor among others attentively as it is where they get to discover new talents among drivers or riders.
Thus far, Youth and Sports Minister Hannah Yeoh has only stated the ministry will be waiting for police investigations to be concluded, while she has met with MAM officials to discuss the matter last week.
Perak police chief Datuk Mohd Yusri Hassan Basri informed that the police were in the midst of completing investigations as they will call witnesses.
He said the police were waiting for reports from doctors on the post-mortem of the case which tops their priority list as it had received attention from all parties; the ministry and Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim. "Once we have completed our investigation, we will hand it over to the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) for further action," said Mohd Yusri.
