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Alex Yoong Nationality Malaysian Formula One World Championship career Active years 2001–2002 Teams Minardi Races 18 (14 starts) Championships 0 Wins 0 Podiums 0 Career points 0 Pole positions 0 Fastest laps 0 First race 2001 Italian Grand Prix Last race 2002 Japanese Grand Prix 24 Hours of Le Mans career Participating years 2006 – 2007 Teams Racing for Holland, Charouz Racing System Best finish 8th (2007) Class wins 0

Alexander Charles Loong Yoong (simplified Chinese: 熊龙; traditional Chinese: 熊龍; pinyin: Xióng Lóng, (born July 20, 1976 in Kuala Lumpur), is a Malaysian race car driver of European and Asian parentage^[1][2]. His mother, Joanna Bean, is from England. His father, Hanifah Yoong Yin Fah (熊英華), a Malaysian Chinese, is a former racer and manager of the Shah Alam circuit between 1988 and 1998. Yoong married Arriana Teoh in 2002 and has a son, Alister, born in 2003.

Early career

Alex Yoong racing in Formula Asia 2000 in Zhuhai.

His early racing career started in saloon cars in 1992 when he was 16. He then went on to win the first ever single seater race held in China - the Formula Asia International race - in the streets of Zhuhai in 1994. He won the 1995 Malaysian Formula Asia championship and was the runner up in the same year's Formula Asia International championship with multiple wins and podium positions. The European campaign started with the British Formula Renault in 1996 and 1997, then two partially completed British Formula 3 seasons in 1998 and 1999 due to the Asian financial crisis. He had a podium second in Brands Hatch's F3 race in 1998 and was often in the top 5.

His career took a step up with Formula 3000 halfway through 1999 and he achieved a credible second in the rain soaked Donington Park circuit in the same year. A much publicised massive accident in the Formula 1 weekend's F3000 race at Spa's Eau Rouge saw him sidelined for 2 weeks before taking to the tracks again in Italy. He then drove a season and a half in the Formula Nippon championship in 2000 and 2001 before he was offered the Formula 1 drive with Minardi.

Formula One

Backed by the Malaysian lottery company Magnum he was given the chance to drive three Formula One races in 2001 for the Minardi team, debuting at the Italian GP. He thus became the first Malaysian F1 driver. The deal was extended for the whole 2002 season, however after a good result of seventh in the Australian Grand Prix he struggled to be competitive. After failing to be remotely close to the 107% rule for many races, he was replaced by Anthony Davidson for two mid-season races. Although his form did improve afterwards, his Formula One career ended at the close of season. He competed in 18 Grands Prix with a best result of 7th in the 2002 Australian Grand Prix.

An Assortment of Drives

After his Formula 1 career, Yoong initially struggled to remain visible in international motorsports. A promising start in the American Champ Car series in 2003 (9th in Mexico), his season was cut short due to the team's lack of funds, and Yoong failed to impress in his few drives in the Australian V8 Supercar series in 2004. He has remained an enthusiastic promoter of motorsports in his home country however, and has been seen doing media and Formula 1 commentating work for Malaysian television and ESPN-Star. He also co-presented Formula One live coverage at 8TV.

A1 Grand Prix

Since his arrival in A1 Grand Prix Yoong has won three races: two sprint races and one feature race.

He now drives for A1 Team Malaysia in the new A1 Grand Prix series. He finished his 2005–06 A1GP season with one race win at Shanghai International Circuit, China, and two second places at Sentul Circuit, Indonesia and Shanghai. With Yoong and Fairuz Fauzy, A1 Team Malaysia finished in fifth place overall.

During the 2006–07 A1 Grand Prix season, Yoong has remained with A1 Team Malaysia, winning both races of the second round of the championship at Brno. He scored another win on the Mexico Sprint race.

Le Mans Series

After the 2005–06 A1 Grand Prix season, Yoong raced in the 2006 Le Mans Series as well as the 2006 Le Mans 24 Hrs for Jan Lammers, the A1 Team Netherlands seat holder with team Racing For Holland. Yoong was very competitive, holding third position in Lammers' Dome-Judd when the throttle stuck, sending the car into the wall at the first chicane on the Mulsanne straight and breaking both steering arms.

After the 2006–07 A1 Grand Prix season, Yoong once again returned to the Le Mans Series with Charouz Racing System. He teamed up with Jan Charouz of the Czech Republic and Stefan Mucke of Germany. The team entered the most famous of endurance races, the 24 Heures du Mans and the Le Mans Series.

In the 2007 24 Hours of Le Mans, the team completed 338 laps and finish in 8th overall and 5th in LMP1 Class.

GP2 Asia Series

Alex Yoong driving his Meritus GP2 Asia race car in Shanghai.

For the 2008–09 GP2 Asia Series season, Yoong signed to drive for the Qi-Meritus Mahara team.^[3] He was replaced by Marco Bonanomi for the third race weekend in Bahrain,^[4] due to a lack of sufficient time for racing.^[5]

Racing record

Complete Formula One results

(key)

Complete CART results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position, races in italics indicate fastest race lap)

Complete A1 Grand Prix results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Complete GP2 Series results

Complete GP2 Asia Series results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

References

External links

• AlexYoong.com
• A1 Team Malaysia Home Page
• Profile on F1 Rejects
• F1 Rejects interview
• Twitter Profile: @alexyoong

Lotus Racing Personnel: Tony Fernandes | Riad Asmat | Mike Gascoyne | Alex Yoong Current drivers: 18. Jarno Trulli | 19. Heikki Kovalainen Test Drivers: Fairuz Fauzy Formula One cars: T127