KUALA LUMPUR: Tunku Panglima Johor Tunku Abdul Rahman Hassanal Jefri Sultan Ibrahim said Malaysia's four-wheel motorsports ecosystem has to grow if it is to develop more top talent.
He said Malaysia had no shortage of promising young talent, but there were limited opportunities for them in the country.
He believed this could be changed by creating more tracks across the country and boosting the motorsports industry, making the sport more financially sustainable.
"From what I see, there is so much talent in this country in terms of mechanics, engineers and drivers. However, there is not much support," said Tunku Jefri at the Petronas Sepang International Circuit yesterday.
"The sport has to grow for them to have the opportunities they need. We have to make the sport cheaper. And one way to do that is by having more tracks around the country. Good tracks of FIA standards."
He said the Sepang track is one of the best in the world, but it was the only such track in the country.
"The more we have, the more all the other states can benefit and more race series can be held.
"More teams can have their own base (in their states). They can then start creating and manufacturing their own race parts, which they can sell.
"It then becomes a business. They are not just spending anymore, but they are also selling, so there is a good balance.
"They can turn it into a business, just like how Thailand or even Australia have done.
"The first race I ever competed in was the Thailand Super Series and there were over 300 cars competing.
"We have about 40 to 50 cars competing in the Saga Cup here every season and it has been like that for many years.
"I think it is time for us to step forward."
Tunku Jefri said creating more race series would provide a better progression pathway for Malaysian talent.
"After finishing competing in the Malaysia Speed Festival series, the next step up would be GT racing or higher, which is a huge gap.
"Creating more reasonably priced races in between would give our young drivers more opportunities and help them reach where they want to go. It is important for them to go through the (development) ladder."
Tunku Jefri was speaking at the opening round of the Fanatec GT World Challenge Asia series at Sepang.
His younger brother, Tunku Putera Johor Tunku Abu Bakar Sultan Ibrahim, is competing in the series for Triple Eight Johor Motorsports Racing (Triple Eight JMR).
Tunku Abu Bakar and teammate Jordan Love were seventh fastest in qualifying round two after clocking two minutes and 3.283 seconds in their Mercedes AMG GT3 Evo at Sepang this morning. Race one was held this afternoon.
Tunku Jefri won the Pro-Am Cup category in the 2022 season of GT World Challenge Asia.
He is, however, not competing in the series this year as he is focusing on the Intercontinental GT Challenge as well as the recently concluded Asian Le Mans series this season.
