Motor rally racer Karamjit Singh will likely be again in motion in June to compete for the primary time in additional than three years.
He’ll make his comeback on the nationwide rally championship in Sepang on June 26-27, which will likely be a much-anticipated occasion.
The primary stage of the rally on April 3-Four was referred to as off due to the motion management order. The four-round championship ends in November.
Karamjit’s return was made doable when he secured sponsorship from Cisco Academy, a sister firm of the safety agency Cisco (M) Sdn Bhd, which supplies intelligence providers, together with session, case administration, in addition to authorized and analysis evaluation.
Cisco managing director Rabin Nijhar described Karamjit as “a nationwide hero, an excellent racer and an absolute legend who has a lot extra to contribute and produce glory to the nation”.
“We love and share his dedication and enthusiasm. We’re enthusiastic about our future collectively and to have landed him as a model ambassador,” he mentioned.
Rabin mentioned Karamjit’s return to motor rallying was an thrilling period for the game and would translate into large alternatives for his firm.
He hoped the partnership will put Malaysia again on the world motor rallying map.
Rabin mentioned his agency was spurred into motion to again Karamjit following an FMT article, ‘The place’s the respect for rally celebrity Karamjit Singh?’ on Dec 10 final yr.
Karamjit’s return will likely be one other chapter in a singular sporting saga – he was world rally champion on his first try in 2002, Nationwide Sportsman of the 12 months the identical yr after which virtually bottoming out as an e-hailing driver when the Covid-19 pandemic struck final yr.
He mentioned he was grateful to Cisco for believing in him and was trying ahead to including to the 500 trophies he gained since his first rally in 1994.
“I’m very comfortable to go on this new journey with a beautiful household that has supplied me unconditional assist,” mentioned Karamjit, who had struggled to safe sponsorship in recent times, largely because of scant curiosity in motor rallying by the federal government and personal firms.
I’m match and wholesome and intend to race for no less than one other 5 years as there’s no age restrict to rally racing,” mentioned the 59-year-old legend.
Karamjit raced to the highest with co-driver Allen Oh by successful the FIA World Rally Championship Manufacturing Automobile title of their first try in 2002 – the primary Asians to take action.
In the identical yr, he retained his Asia Pacific Rally Championship (APRC) total drivers’ title and claimed a 3rd two years later.
The rise of the Petronas EON Racing Workforce (PERT) is commonly related to Karamjit’s victories.
When Edaran Otomobil Berhad (EON) misplaced the distributorship of Proton automobiles in 2003, the brand new administration stopped sponsoring the game because of its enormous monetary outlay to create model consciousness.
That was the beginning of Karamjit’s monetary troubles, leading to him promoting his house and three automobiles to assist his racing profession since 2012.