23 August 2007, BY
In a bizarre twist of events on the final day of registration, Malaysia’s 14-year old racing wonderkid Jazeman Jaafar is making his debut in the 2007 Petronas Primax 3 Merdeka Millennium Endurance Race; declaring that he is ready to battle against the big boys.
A dominating power in go-karts and the current Formula BMW Asia Series, Jazeman would be driving a Lotus Exige 300RR – the car that won Tengku Djan Ley Tengku Mahaleel and the Proton R3 Motorsports the overall titles in 2005 and 2006.
Jazeman, who owns an FIA international Class C racing license under special exemption by the world governing body, would be taking the seat reserved for Tengku Djan, who until yesterday was provisionally registered to drive the Lotus Exige with three-time winner Tommy Lee and Singaporean Billy Ng.
“We received Proton R3 Motorsports entry yesterday; which now listed Tengku Djan Ley to drive with Faidzil Alang and Sutan Mustafa Salihin in Class C, driving a Satria Neo,” says Mashithah Hashim, who is the event’s secretary-of-the-meet.
“In replace of Tengku Djan’s name in Class O, we have received the entry of Jazeman Jaafar, who will partner Tommy Lee and Billy Ng for Team R3 in a Lotus Exige,” Mashithah said, adding that qualifying would be held tomorrow to decide the 77 starters for the race.
The participation of Jazeman, who effectively penned his name as the youngest ever competitor in the history of the MME, would without doubt increase interest among the local racing fans, who see the Form Two student as Malaysia’s brightest star and biggest prospect in motor racing.
Aspiring to be a Formula One driver by the age of 22, Jazeman, who is the first Malaysia to score a win in the Formula BMW Asia Series, is firmly on track in the pursuance of his ambition as his impressive form at the series had caught the attention of Williams-F1 team.
“It all happened two days ago when Tommy called me and I took a day to weigh everything before deciding to take up the challenge. I am 14 years old and I would need to gather experience as much as I can now to further improve my racing skills.
“I have driven a standard Lotus a couple of times around the Sepang track. Basically, the racecraft will be the same like the Formula machine … I don’t see any problem,” said a confident Jazeman, who said he was looking forward to the race.
Tengku Djan, when met at his pits, confirmed that he would not be defending his overall title in his Lotus Exige and that he would be partnering Faidzil and Sutan Mustafa to carry the challenge of the Satria Neo.
“This is in line with what we have announced at the conclusion of last year’s race that Proton R3 Motorsports would be concentrating in the lower classes B and C this year. So, our concentration this year will be Class C which we aim to win this year,” said Tengku Djan, who heads Proton Motorsports Division.
Tengku Djan said that apart from the Satria Neo, the team has also fielded a 1600cc Proton Waja, which would be led by Hammond Lai, adding that the new line-up of Jazeman, Tommy and Bill is registered as a satellite team for Proton R3 and that they would be fully in charge in all aspects in the running of the car.
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