WITH the Covid-19 pandemic yet to be overcome, it proved to be another challenging year for Malaysian motorsports — both on and off track.
In motorcycle racing, Syarifuddin Azman was the standout man for Malaysia after enjoying a strong season in the Moto3 World Junior Championships.
Syarifuddin clinched an unexpected victory at the Catalunya round (race one) in June. The 20-year-old finished in the points in seven other races en route to ending the season a decent ninth overall.
Syarifuddin also impressed when Petronas Sprinta Racing gave him a Moto3 (senior) wildcard for the Aragon round in August, where he finished in the points in 13th.
The Sepang International Circuit development programme rider was poised to move up to the Moto3 (senior) World Championships next year after securing a seat in one of the teams. However, the deal fell through due to funding issues.
As a result, Malaysia will not have riders in the World Championships for the first time since 2009.
Motor racing, both on two and four wheels, is a sponsorship-driven sport, and Covid-19 had caused advertising and promotional money to dry up substantially.
Many companies are struggling to survive while those who remain profitable approach sporting deals with apprehension due to the current uncertainty.
Sepang Racing Team (SRT) and their Petronas Sprinta Racing sister squads in Moto2 and Moto3 were also affected as title sponsors Petronas announced in August that they were not renewing their partnership.
The Petronas Sprinta squads were folded at the end of the season, while the SRT squad has been rebranded under new sponsors next season. They are now known as WithU Yamaha RNF MotoGP Team.
It is a huge blow for Malaysian motorcycle racing as the SRT-Petronas Sprinta squads were intended to provide young local talent with a platform to step up.
As expected, Hafizh Syahrin Abdullah, riding for NTS RW Racing GP, found the going tough in what was to be his final season in the Moto2 World Championships.
The Ampang-born, who was roped in to help develop the relatively new NTS chassis, could only manage three-points finishes throughout the season and ended the year 28th (nine points) overall in the intermediate class standings.
His lacklustre results and the scarcity of sponsors ultimately left him without a Moto2 seat for next season.
He, however, settled on moving to the World Superbike Championships (WSBK), which utilises production bikes rather than prototype machines, and will race for MIE Racing Honda Team in WSBK next season.
On a positive note, Malaysia is not lacking in quality talent for the future, with riders like Danial Syahmi Sharil, 19, and Hakim Danish Ramli, 14, both showing progress this year.
Danial and Hakim finished second and fifth overall in the Asia Talent Cup this season.
On four wheels, the sponsorship situation and Covid-19 restrictions meant limited international racing opportunities for Malaysia's top drivers, but both Mitchell Cheah and Jazeman Jaafar took what came their way very well.
An opportunity came up in July, and Jazeman grabbed the chance to race with Sean Gelael (Indonesia) at the Four Hours of Monza, which is part of the European Le Mans Series.
Despite not having raced for over a year, Jazeman and Sean finished on the podium (third) in the LMP2 class.
Touring car driver Mitchell was denied an opportunity to race in the TCR Asia series due to Covid-19 complications.
However, he filled in for Dutchman Nicky Catsburg at the Aragon round of the World Touring Car Cup (WTCR) last month.
Despite his unfamiliarity with the Aragon track and being forced to start from the back of the grid, Mitchell finished 13th in one of the three races he competed in Spain.
UK-based Nazim Azman also did well in the Euroformula Open Championship by notching seven podiums, including one win at the Red Bull Ring en route to placing fourth overall this season.
Domestically, the implementation of the Movement Control Order 3.0 in June once again forced the postponement of many events.
The Malaysian Motorcycle Grand Prix (MotoGP) was also cancelled for the second year in a row due to the pandemic.
But overall, the majority of national-level races such as the Petronas Malaysian Cub Prix Championship, Malaysia Superbike Series, Malaysia Championship Series and MSF's hugely popular enthusiast series, both on two and four wheels, were able to race again, albeit on shortened calendars.
The widespread roll-out of vaccines worldwide has given motorsports more opportunities to return to the track this year.
But with much still unknown about the latest Omicron variant, it does not look like the uncertainty will end any time soon.