Top Stories from the Sports pages of the International Herald Tribune,
Wednesday, October 6, 1999
Racing's Asian Tiger
Malaysian Gets Noticed on Auto Circuits
By Brad Spurgeon International Herald Tribune
For the second race in a row, in the Formula 3000 race before the European Grand Prix on Sept. 26, Yoong was pushed off the track by the same rival driver. He was lucky this time, however, for in Spa, Belgium, in August, his car went off at 260 kilometers per hour (160 mph) and he was knocked unconscious for nearly 20 minutes.
受伤
''They thought I had a broken elbow, broken knee, broken ribs,'' Yoong said. ''My body was contorted and apparently I was screaming like a stuck pig.''
He got away with only an injured ligament in his knee, but while medical opinion differs on the severity, Yoong said it doesn't affect his driving.
担心
At the time, the worst was feared. Mahathir bin Mohamad, the Malaysian prime minister, wished him a quick recovery. As one of only three Southeast Asian drivers with Formula One potential racing in Europe, to lose him would be a blow to a region that is both struggling to produce drivers and about to host its first Grand Prix, in Malaysia, on Oct. 17.
优势
While the next generation of Malaysian drivers must still rise from go-carts up through a shaky motor-racing hierarchy, Yoong, 23, came to racing in a privileged manner. His father, Hanifah Yoong, raced sedan cars in the 1970s. He was a director of the Shah Alam circuit near Kuala Lumpur, then the country's leading track, where he introduced international motorcycle racing.
His father was born in Malaysia of Chinese parents, and his mother is a British expatriate. His sister is a top water skier, and Yoong, too, skied in competitions, rising as high as the top five in Asia.
成绩
At 15, he began racing Proton sedan cars, and won two of five races his first year. The next step was Formula Asia, a single-seat open-wheel series that raced in Malaysia, Indonesia, India, Thailand, and China. Several podium finishes were followed by victory in the last race, in Zuhai, China. The next year he won six of the 14 races and the Malaysian championship, but he missed the international title by two points to a British driver.
(续下篇)
