PRIME MINISTER TO LAUNCH F1 PETRONAS MALAYSIAN GRAND PRIX 2007

teamcar -The 2007 Formula One Petronas Malaysian Grand Prix, to be held at Sepang F1 Circuit from April 6 to 8, will be officially launched by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Haji Ahmad Badawi on Tuesday (January 16) at Impiana KLCC Hotel in Kuala Lumpur.

The ninth edition of the Malaysia’s F1 race, which will feature the second round of the 2007 Formula One World Championship, would be launched amidst a showcase of lights and colours to project this year’s theme of ‘It’s Thrilling Out There”.

“With all the buzz and excitement surrounding the Visit Malaysia Year festivities and celebrations, we at the circuit are even more excited than before with the 2007 race,” says Sepang International Circuit (SIC) General Manager Datuk Ahmad Mustafa.Ahmad, who is the 2007 Formula One Petronas Malaysian Grand Prix event director, believed that with the support of the Visit Malaysia Year programmes with listless benefits and incentives for foreign tourists, the event would become Malaysia’s best ever F1 race.

First staged in 1999, the F1 race is organized as a national event by Malaysia to enhance its image globally and as part of the Government’s effort to develop motorsports in Malaysia and promote the country as an international tourist destination. Targeting 120,000 spectators including 48,000 foreigners for this year’s race on April 8, Ahmad said their effort in wooing the spectators was also helped by the fact that the new season started with plenty of uncertainties and excitement brought about the some major changes in the drivers’ line-up.

“We know that Michael Schumacher will not be competing anymore. Kimi Raikkonen is driving for Ferrari; taking over from Michael but (Felipe) Massa wants to be the No 1 driver. World champion Fernando Alonso is starting new with McLaren and obviously would demand for a strong reliable machine to defend his title.“There’s also plenty of hype on the new McLaren driver Lewis Hamilton being the first black driver, Giancarlo Fisichella is now the No 1 driver in Renault and he will now have maximum support the team unlike previously when Alonso was the first driver for the team.

“Rubens Barrichello and Jenson Button will obviously be stronger this year with Honda. Similarly, with Toyota, BMW and Red Bull Racing. So, there are plenty of things happening in the pre-season and plenty of excitement in store for the fans,” added Ahmad.With Sepang as the second round after Melbourne, Ahmad said the thrill and excitement would be even higher for the fans as the teams and drivers would be better prepared; having shaken off their early season jitter in the opening round in Australia.

“On top of that, the teams and drivers would be entering the race in Sepang fresh from a three-day testing at the circuit itself in the preceding week. Naturally, they will be very prepared for the race in Sepang,” he added.Watched by more than 107,000 spectators and some 600 million more live on TV, the 2006 race in Sepang was won by Fisichella; beating team mate Alonso to second place and Jenson Button completing the podium.

Puzzling local interest in Proton

teamcar - ASK any research analyst in town about Proton Holdings Bhd and everyone is likely to agree that the national carmaker needs a foreign partner to help it ride out the current slump.

But in recent months, several local automotive companies have made public their interest to take over Proton. DRB-HICOM Bhd, which is run by Tan Sri Syed Mokhtar Al-Bukhary, Naza Group, owned by Tan Sri SM Nasimuddin SM Amin and the Mofaz Group, a car distributor.
Initially, some were confused. Could Proton be rescued by a Malaysian company?

Analysts had scenarios to take into account both a local and a foreign partner, allowing them to co-exist at different levels of the group.

To follow the often cited Perodua model, a local partner could be at the holding level while a technical partner could control the manufacturing arm.

Last week, speculation reached fever pitch when DRB-HICOM held a Press conference. Group executive adviser for automotive operations, Tan Sri Abdul Rahman Omar, said he was called to the Cabinet committee on the automotive industry, to talk about the firm's bid.

DRB-HICOM has made a bid for a third of Proton and it is 100 per cent sure of its chances.
Naza wants to buy all of Khazanah Nasional Bhd's shares in Proton. At Friday's closing price, that 43 per cent block is worth some RM1.4 billion.

Should the Government sell its shares in Proton to local firms? A more pressing question is that can they turn around Proton?

"Proton needs good exports and it has to be fast in rolling out new models. Can DRB-HICOM help do that?" asks Rosnani Rasul from TA Securities.

Malaysia to introduce RFID number plates

teamcar - THE ROAD TRANSPORT Department of Malaysia is set to introduce RFID licence plates in a bid, it says, to stop car thieves thieving cars.

Each plate will contain information about the vehicle and its owner which means that coppers can scan cars at roadblocks and see if the car has been stolen.

Currently your average car tea leaf will swap the licence plate when they nick a motor, however this might not be such a good idea if they have RFID plates.

Not only will the data have to match the plate but the owner of the car should be nearby in case the copper wants to check the driver’s identity.

According to the New Straits Times, the system will be implemented next year in stages with new cars being the first to sport them followed by older vehicles.

A1GP EXTENDS GLOBAL BROADCAST COVERAGE

teamcar - A1GP World Cup of Motorsport has significantly expanded its global television reach, signing an exclusive broadcast deal with America's SPEED channel and a terrestrial highlights package with Channel Five in the UK.

More than 68 million homes across the US and another five million in Canada will now have access to A1GP through the nation's foremost cable network dedicated solely to motorsport. A1GP will join the ranks of Formula One, NASCAR, Champ Car World Series and MotoGP on SPEED, one of the fastest growing cable networks in the US.

'SPEED is intrigued by the competitive patriotism in the A1GP World Cup of Motorsport,' said Hunter Nickell, SPEED Executive VP and General Manager. 'It adds a unique twist to high-level racing and we believe it is something SPEED viewers will support and enjoy.'

Across the UK, Sky Sports' live race coverage will now be supported by a Channel Five highlights package, scheduled to be shown mid-week after each event. The partnership with the free-to-air terrestrial channel will mean that over 90 per cent of UK households can now support their national race team in the A1GP World Cup of Motorsport.

Commenting on the new deals, A1GP's Executive Director and Head of Broadcast, Richard Dorfman said: 'A1GP's unique nation versus nation race format has fast developed a strong fan base and these two new deals, taking the sport to even more homes, will give a wider variety of fans access to the series. Close racing, tight overtaking manoeuvres and the competitiveness of the 23 national teams delivers an exciting broadcast package that lets the fans experience the thrill of A1GP from the comfort of their own home.'

Through its network of over 30 broadcast partners, A1GP can now be viewed in more than 150 countries worldwide and with new partners, leading global online broadcaster MediaZone, the races can now be viewed live on the internet as well. This package complements A1GP's free audio commentary available across the globe through www.A1GP.com.

Nasimuddin Wins Automotive Man Of The Year Award

teamcar - Tan Sri S.M. Nasimuddin S.M. Amin, group managing director of the Naza Group of Companies, has been named the Automotive Man of the Year at the NSTP-Ambank Car of The Year Award 2006 Wednesday.

Nasimuddin, who won the same title when the Car of The Award was initiated in 2002, received the title for his outstanding achievement in the Malaysian motor vehicle industry.

Minister of Entrepreneur and Cooperative Development, Datuk Seri Mohd Khaled Nordin, presented the award to Nasimuddin.

Last year's winner was Datuk Frank Steinleitner of Daimler Chrysler Malaysia.

Meanwhile, Honda Malaysia Sdn Bhd has won the overall Car of The Year Award with its Honda Civic 2.0 model which also won the family car category.

EON dealers want Govt to drive merger with Proton Edar

teamcar - CAR dealers under Edaran Otomobil Nasional Bhd (EON) want the Government to push for a merger between them and Proton Edar Sdn Bhd so that they could better deal with the weak market.

Already, in the first 10 months of the year, 80 dealers out of 100 under EON were not making any money, EON Dealers Association of Malaysia (EDAM) president Datuk Ismail Din said, citing a survey.

Only 20 per cent are seeing sales of 20 or more units a month."We are open to anything, if you want to make EON the only distributor we will agree, if you want to make Proton Edar the only distributor also we will agree, we just want all the dealers to be under one management."

"Whatever the decision has to be done fast," Ismail said. The association has been trying for the last three years to make the merger happen but nothing has been done.

Once they merge there should only be 250 outlets to cover the whole of Malaysia, so that all dealers will be able to make a living.

There are now 400 Proton Edar and EON outlets in Malaysia.

Students pin hopes on car built for Aussie contest

teamcar - With a racing car built from scratch and the Malaysia Boleh spirit, 11 engineering students will be going Down Under to pit their model against other cars in a competition involving 80 campuses worldwide.

The students, representing Universiti Teknologi Petronas near here, had slaved since last year on their project without any prototype to guide them.

They hope to make waves at the Formula SAE Australasia 2006 competition at Victoria University in Melbourne from Dec 14 to 17.

The competition provides motor-sports fans a chance to use their imagination and knowledge of F1 racing to design a car that is one-third the size of a Formula 1 car.

Team leader Mohd Faizan Ahmad Zuhdi, 22, said 47 students from various faculties worked together to construct the car, with only advisory help from lecturers and experts.

At the competition the car will be judged on its dynamic aspects, which include a tilt test, autocross race, endurance race, acceleration and braking as well as static aspects such as design and costing.

Motorsports/A1GP World Cup: Win will see Team Malaysia at summit

teamcar - A HOME win in the Malaysian A1 Grand Prix of Nations Championship at the Sepang International Circuit this weekend could propel Team Malaysia to the top of the championship standings.

Mexico lead the standings on 24 points from Germany (22). Malaysia (17) dropped to fifth after failing to score a single point in the last race in Beijing on Nov 12.However, Malaysia’s Alex Yoong cautioned against reading too much into the standings at this stage of the season.

"It is still early in the season and I would not read too much into the standings," said Alex yesterday."If we make the podium in Sepang it would be great. We’ll try to win the race although no team has yet to win its home A1GP race.

" In Beijing, Alex made his way from 14th on the grid to fifth before he crashed into a wall resulting in his car breaking a rim two laps from the finish of the race held for the first time on a street circuit.

However, Alex will be in more familiar surroundings in Sepang where he will race both the sprint and feature races on Sunday.

Automotive market declines further in October

teamcar - Malaysian vehicle sales in October declined by 37% year-on-year to 35,563 units, local newspaper The New Straits Times has reported, citing the Malaysian Automotive Association (MAA).