See yourself as a race car driver but don't know where or how to kickstart this glamorous career? Wonder no more as the 2 great motorsport forces of Malaysia, TOC Automotive College (TOC) and professional race team Aylezo Motorsports have recently collaborated to form the TOC-Aylezo Racing Academy.
Two key players in their respective sectors; TOC Automotive College (TOC), one of the early pioneers in automotive education, and Aylezo Competizione, a local professional racing team, is proud to introduce Malaysia's first High Performance Driving and Racing course, aiming to enhance individual's hidden potential in the fast-paced world of motorsports.
"As the training provider in this course, we always believe in shaping the fundamentals and the future of the automotive industry. In this ever-changing sector, we would like to encourage more enthusiasts to continue engaging and aspiring towards a career in motorsports," said Adelaine Foo, Founder and CEO of TOC.
"Individuals are given an excellent opportunity to obtain professional guidance and knowledge from Aylezo racing team. The team members of Aylezo have been involved in motorsports for nearly 20 years and the experience will definitely benefit those who aim to go further in this industry," she added.
Zen Low, the founder of Aylezo and an experienced winning GT race car driver said, "The course is a good opportunity to experience what a race car driver and the crew goes through a race weekend."
Sitting on 8 acres of land area in the precint of Glenamrie, TOC-Aylezo Racing Academy is situated at the 3StonePark which is well equipped with their own high end facilities, cafe, gym, karting circuit and a world-class driving simulator.
The gym in TOC-Aylezo Racing Academy is divided into two main sectors; cardio and weight-based exercises. As racing drivers are exposed to intense conditions such as vibrations, lateral g-forces, with cars being hit by other racers as well as to remain focused for an extended period of time, proper training is crucial to ensure that drivers are mentally and physically fit for the job.
During the 8-week course, students will be exposed to an in-depth view of motorsports - from optimum seating position, proper driving techniques, and how to communicate with the their race engineers, realistically simulating race environments.
According to Cheah Lai Sun, the COO of Aylezo Racing Team (as well as drivers' coach and engineer), "Communications between the drivers and engineers are critical in order to form common understanding about the car that they are working on. Drivers must be able to give his/her feedback on how their car behave on track therefore gaining an edge over the other team."
"If you think that engineers lack the basics of race car driving, well, you might need to check the fact that engineers who have the understanding of a race car's driving dynamics would be able to tune the car correctly, they way it is supposed to," he added.
The course comprises of 30% theoretical and 70% practical and includes classroom lessons (in the classes similar to normal colleges) with fitness training as well as driving lessons.
With only professional racing drivers as instructors, passionate and talented students will have the bona fide guidance throughout the course. Cheah also stated that currently, each instructor are only limited to 10 students to ensure that proper attention is given.
We were brought for a quick tour around the facility, a small sample of what sign-ups get in their 8-week training period, compressed into a 2 hour visit. After the quick tour on its classrooms, gymnasium and cafe, we move onto the karting circuit for a 10-minute session. The flat and smooth circuit is pretty tight and has no run-offs. This means that if you get too handy in the corners and find yourself running wider than you should, well, a bunch of bouncy old tyres awaits you instead of gravel or grass.
Luckily though, Cheah took us for a brief track walk - in which we could have a better view of the details of the circuit, its corners, the bumps and dips, or where to position the kart in order to get the best exit and a few other tips just so we don't hurt ourselves (as well as the karts).
The karting circuit in 3StonePark can be configured into 15 different configurations.
"Other than fun, karting is like an essence of driving, where the lessons in karting such as keeping good momentum, optimising grips and turn-in techniques can be benefited to gain advantage in racing," Cheah explained.
We then moved into the simulator room, where we could see and feel how students can now get closer to real life race car driving.
Powered by rFactor, the driving simulator software paired with high-tech engineering, SimWorx hardware, this simulator provides more than a chest pounding sensation of gearchanges. It realistically simulate sensations such as dive during braking, squats at acceleration and a multitude of leaning motions to simulate body roll. Steering is also weighted accordingly as close as possible to the real car. You have got to try this thing out yourself.
When I got into the Sim, I suddenly realize I was in the driver's seat of a BMW E90 racer, beamed onto the familliar Sepang International Circuit, ready to go with engine in idle while in the pits. With traction control disabled and ABS set to a minimum, getting familiarized with the Sim's simulated realism can be challenging. In the beginning, a few of us struggled to optimise grip or come to terms with the throttle at the exit of slow corners like T2 and T9. Nevertheless, we were driving like champions minutes later.
When asked about career choices for graduated students, Cheah said that the academy is focused on producing more competent drivers in GT racing such as in the Ferrari Challenge, Porsche Carrera Cup, Lamborghini Super Trofeo as well as endurance GT races such as LeMans and Nurburgring 24 hour.
Well, fingers crossed with the intensive training in TOC-Aylezo Racing Academy, we would see more new-age Alex Yoongs or Fairuz Fauzy's representing our nation in motorsports in the future.
The TOC-Aylezo Racing Academy is located in Glenmarie, for more information and course registration, contact TOC at 03-7955 2855 or find out more about the course at www.toc.edu.my or visit their Facebook page at TOC Malaysia.
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Or just rent the go-kart and driving sim maybe?
