THE world had taken a new spark of passion in motorsports ever since the 'Drive to Survive' Formula 1 documentary aired on Netflix in 2019. The popularity of auto-racing had spread to Malaysia and a new wave of speed seekers had found a place to quench their racing thirst with a local racing community called 'Hot Rocket Racing Club'.
The brainchild of Terry Kuan from Klang, started organizing casual races with his friends after the lockdowns in 2021. His group of Gokarters based in Kuala Lumpur grew from just 20 drivers on their first unofficial race event to over 300 members today, with communities growing in Penang and Johor! The club was officially founded in April this year after recognizing it's potential to build a brand and cultivate the motorsports industry in Malaysia.
"I've always loved cars and racing ever since I was a kid. However, it took the pandemic to make me purchase and play Racing Simulator games like Gran Turismo on my little brother's Play Station 4 during the lockdown. During all those hours racing online, I've developed a real itch to scratch and needed to go out racing for real. That's how I first organized our first Gokart race."
Free Gokart Workshops
Terry has organized 13 successful races over the past year with 20-30 drivers each event. He also pairs his events with free gokart workshops and coaching to participants who are new to the sport.
"I think Motorsports is undoubtedly an expensive hobby. I don't want to burden my community financially because I'm not in the business of making money. I'm in the business of community building, education and branding. The club gets financial support from our sponsors 'Kuvings Malaysia' and 'Legion Tactical', and all profits earned from our races events and sale of club merchandise goes back into the club fund for marketing purposes and developing great motorsport programs"
Collaborations with an Ex-F1 Driver
Hot Rocket Racing Club also works together with 'Axle Sports', a Race Academy founded by Ex-F1 Driver Alex Yoong. The collaboration offers Hot Rocket's community a unique Racer Development Program designed by Axle Sports that teaches students the fundamental skills of track driving and race craft. Through their long and short term programs, Axle Sports and Hot Rocket Racing Club are able to guide drivers eager to participate and win in regional races on the Sepang F1 Circuit like the MSF Merdeka Race, TGR Velocity Festival, Malaysian Championship Series or even international races with the help of sponsors and supporters.
"I searched online looking for a motorsports course and found Axle Sports that offered a program that would fit the interest of my club members. I booked a 1 day motorsports program at their learning centre with Alex Yoong as their instructor for a few of the members interested. The class was a great success and soon I was supplying Axle Sports with students every month. We've dubbed our program the 'Racing Masterclass' or 'Racer Development Program."
Hot Rocket Race Team
Through their race events, Hot Rocket has managed to scout out talented and skilled drivers to form a competitive racing team. They have entered regional Gokart endurance races such as the 3x round 'Supercar Owners Gokart Championship' with an overall 2nd place, the 4 hour Endurance race by Kart Hauz Penang of which Hot Rocket had 2 teams entered with a 1st place and 4th place finish, with one of the drivers, Kyshen Braydon Nair only being 12 years of age.
"I promoted the competitions on our Whatsapp group and got the list of drivers who were interested to form a team. The drivers were then trained by our head coach Stanlley Tai who has 20 years of experience in race competitions to sharpen their racing skills. We got some help from our sponsors in terms of training and providing the teams with some accessories. So far we've sat on podiums on all the races we've entered and I think we've got a solid system worked out to win races and gain more sponsors."
Entrepreneur and Marketeer at heart
Terry seeks to build a brand and takes inspiration from the energy drink and events company 'Red Bull' whose professional teams are dominating at all action sports including motorsports.
"I am an entrepreneur and marketeer at heart. I love that brands like Red Bull funds and creates world-class events out of smaller sports and gave these athletes the opportunity to flourish on an international stage. I'd like to do the same with the Hot Rocket brand. I feel that our athletes are not being supported enough and I plan to start organizing competitive events for other sports and be an enabler for these communities."
The small sports club from Kuala Lumpur has made a wave strong enough to influence it's crowd of passionate racers. Furthermore, with Terry's tenacity, charisma and public relations skills, the potential for reaching the heights of Red Bull is undoubtedly attainable.
