Real Lives

Monday November 2, 2009

Racing towards success

By K.R. MING

WHEN you're barrelling down a long stretch of tarmac laden with skid marks of past mistakes and the blue haze of hi-octane fuel, worrying about whether your left tire is going blow out on the next bend, it's hard to imagine feeling anything other than a pure adrenaline rush to the head.

Yet for Fairuz Fauzy, adrenaline may be key but so is the ability to "be as consistent as I can out on the track to harness the car's full capability and potential."

Put it down to his early years whizzing around the go-karting track since the age of 12; one of his earliest successes was achieving pole position in the national category in Pandamaran, Klang in 1994. If you can build it, he will drive it.

And let's set the record straight now that fear is not a factor for the 27-year-old. "Fear is something I reserve between me and my Creator," muses Fairuz.

"Passion and patience must work alongside each other for you to go further and beyond in life. Instead of using fear as a motivator, I believe that passion and patience plus full commitment and focus are what motivates me to achieve better results."

After having alternated between the GP2 Series and the A1 Grand Prix since 2005, Fairuz is now at the most crucial part of his career; making his bid to enter F1 as a competing driver.

"Many have told me that F1 is just around the corner from myself. I've done the necessary steps to get to where I am today, beginning with Formula Ford, to Formula 3, to GP2, to A1GP and now I am competing in the World Series by Renault in Formula 3.5, which is the breeding ground for the next generation of highly-skilled and motivated F1 drivers."

To get the necessary off the ground, the business side of things have to be taken care of: financing and sponsorship.

Fairuz explains, "Contrary to popular belief, racing seats are not given freely to just any deserving and talented driver.

"The overall costs involved in designing and building the race car as well as proper development on the driver needs a high amount of investment, which usually comes from sponsors who are willing to back their nominated driver," adds Fairuz.

"I have been blessed throughout my racing career to have had the opportunity of proving to my sponsors that I have what it takes. But now that F1 beckons, I have to work extra hard to gain further trust in sponsors, present and potential, to invest in me while building their brand through the direct exposure they get when I am racing."

All that hard work is paying off: Lotus F1 team principal Datuk Seri Tony Fernandes announced on Oct 15 that Fairuz was one of the names shortlisted for the 1Malaysia-LotusF1 team. The six-person line-up will be made known this month.

When pressed further, Fernandes made his sentiments felt by adding, "I hope the Malaysian driver will be selected as either the second driver or third driver for the team. With Fairuz being the only Malaysian name on the shortlist, hopes are high among racing fans that this will happen.

With 19 years of experience under his belt, it is hard to imagine anyone else more prepared to pick up the metaphorical F1 baton left by Alex Yoong, Malaysia's first F1 driver. But for now, F1 must wait.

On Oct 25, Fairuz basked in the biggest achievement of his motorsports career thus far in a second-place finish in the championship standings of the World Series by Renault. He was second in Race 2 in the final round of the series at Motorland Circuit in Aragon, Spain,

But with every potential star in the making, lies 10 more waiting for their turn. How does he deal with the competition from other drivers who all want the same dream?

"Off the track, my compatriots and I are all great friends. On the track however, we need to show our capabilities in order to gain the trust of potential sponsors who can help us gain further grounds and development in the field we are competing in. For me, competition is healthy.

"Without competition, you will never be able to gauge how good you really are, or whether you are utilizing the best of your talents to the max. Be it my A1 GP teammates Alex, Iruwan or Aaron, I trust that they feel the same way, though we're all buddies outside the track!"

With the buzz around Fairuz growing louder by the day, fans are hungry to hear a few well-placed soundbites from the man himself, with detractors arguing that his public relations and public speaking skills need to be brushed up.

"I would humbly say that these are some of the misconceptions people have about me. What they don't realise and know is that I have always been a shy and reserved person, and that I am very private and appreciative of the quality time I have with my family.

"However, I do speak better in public when required without any reservations now with a little bit of encouragement from my family, especially my father, Haji Fauzy. We've also had an in-house media training programme for the whole MOFAZ Group, and I've benefited much from that."

It's certainly a sign of our times when we demand our reluctant heroes to be an all-round entertainer to be moulded into the square box of celebrityhood.

Nevertheless, you get the feeling that he'll be alright in the spotlight. He was recently invited to judge the winners for CIMB Preferred's Best Car Of The Year awards programme (Wednesday, 7.30pm, NTV7) which gave him more face time in front of the camera.

Fairuz recognises his strengths and weaknesses and realises that, "Natural talent, if not honed, would only surmount to a certain optimal level and (it) would be hard to progress beyond (that) because of the natural boundaries it is confined in."

Fairuz has even brushed up on his fashion sense; at our interview, Fairuz was spotted wearing trendy jewellery pieces from TOUS.

Away from the track, Fairuz tries not to think too hard about the hopes, expectations, responsibilities and duties of being a Renault world Series driver, A1 GP driver and potential F1 driver by listening to his iPod, hanging out with his friends at the mamak and watching re-runs of Tan Sri P. Ramlee films ("I just watched Bujang Lapok again last night!").

With his cool and level head, determination, discipline, focus and passion, Fairuz should be racing toward F1 success in no time at all.

For more updates on Fairuz, log onto his official website at www.fairuzfauzy.com.