A YEAR with few bright sparks but for a 12-year-old world champ and a treble-winning motorcycle rider, has left questions as to where Malaysian motorsports is heading.
It took the will and finances of a racing-mad father to drive the potential of Muizzuddin Musyaffa Abdul Ghafar towards a first ever world title by a Malaysian karter when the 12-year-old started the season by winning the WSK Champions Cup 60 Mini class title.
Based in Italy and fully funded by his father, Abdul Ghafar Abdul Rahiman, Muizzuddin almost made it two titles in a season when he finished second in the WSK Masters Cup 60 Mini championship.
Back in this part of the world, 19-year-old Zaqhwan Zaidi made a strong case for what would eventually result in his confirmed slot in the Moto2 World Championship next season by blazing the regional scene with an historic treble of the
Asia Road Racing Championship (ARRC) Supersports 600cc, Malaysian Super Series (MSS) Superbike and Malaysia Cub Prix Championship CP130 titles.
Zaqhwan also impressed with a ninth place finish after qualifying seventh in the Supersports class of Round Six of the World Superbike Championship in Sepang in June.
Those were the only two titles to show from a plethora of performers on the international scene, with Nabil Jan Al Jeffri coming close but yet again missing out on the German Formula Three Cup title after finishing second to Germany's
Marcus Pommer. Compatriot Tan Wei Ron did what Nabil had failed to do in two seasons in that series, when the rookie achieved victory in the final weekend.
Hopes of a Malaysian Formula One driver anytime soon took a hard knock when the frontrunner Jazeman Firhan Jaafar managed only 10th placing in the final standings of his second season in the Formula Renault 3.5 Series.
On two wheels, there were an unprecedented four Malaysians competing in the full season of the World Motorcycle Championship, but none produced performances that were memorable.
Seasoned campaigner Mohd Zulfahmi Khairuddin went through another troubled year, finishing 20th in the Moto3 championship with just 19 points in the bag in his sole season astride the Ongetta-AirAsia Honda machine.
But compatriot Amirul Hafiq Mohd Azmi lost his case for a second year in the Moto3 championship after struggling throughout the season, producing a 13th placing in the Malaysian Motorcycle Grand Prix when it was already decided that he would be dropped from the SIC-Ajo Team for next season.
The promise that Hafizh Syahrin Abdullah showed in 2012 when he romped to what eventually became a podium finish, riding as a wild card in the Malaysian Grand Prix that year, was yet to materialise in his first full season with the Petronas Raceline Malaysia team in the Moto2 world championship.
With eighth place finishes in the British and Japanese Grands Prix his best achievements of a year that saw him consistently battle for the last remaining points finishes of each race, the 20-year-old will be looking to catch up in the 2015 season.
Compatriot Azlan Shah Kamaruzaman had a forgettable year in the Moto2 championship with the Idemitsu Honda Asia team, often battling to avoid finishing at the rear end of the field.
There was little to shout about in terms of development back home as motorsports seemed headed nowhere.
Mostly, they were doing their own thing, with the karters racing in the Rotax Max Malaysian and Asian series, the motorcycle racers competing in the Malaysian Cub Prix, the MSS, and the ARRC.
Rallying had another low key year, all in all, it was about those who were willing to carry on the struggle.
As government financial support trickled into individual programmes (the sports ministry's interest in motorsports dwindling by the year), there is the question of who exactly is the body responsible for ensuring the development of motorsports in the country.
The Automobile Association of Malaysia (AAM) hasn’t revved up its game, leaving it to the affiliated clubs, who are mostly a dysfunctional lot, struggling to get by.
That leaves only a handful of programmes either brought in or concocted by the Sepang International Circuit (SIC) such as the Asia Talent Cup and the Wira class of the Malaysian Cub Prix.
It is remarkable that despite all these problems back home, Malaysian racers achieved some successes on the international front this year
So much more can be achieved if only there was unity and common ground among the Malaysian motorsport fraternity.