Karamjit Singh - The Forgotten Treasure

[sakuraguy]

Karamjit Singh - The Forgotten Treasure



Karamjit Singh (born January 29, 1962), also known as the Flying Sikh, is a Malaysian professional race driver in rallying, and was the first Asian driver to win the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) Production Car World Championship for Drivers, doing so on his first try. He has been rallying professionally since 1985. He has won the 2001 Asia Pacific Rally Championship for Drivers, the 2002 FIA Production Car World Championship for Drivers, as well as the 2002 and 2004 FIA Asia Pacific Rally Championship for Drivers. He has raced for the Petronas EON Racing Team and Team Proton Pert Malaysia using Proton cars. His co-drivers have been (in chronological order) Ron Teoh, Allen Oh and John Bennie.

Sponsorship difficulties
In 2005, Singh began facing trouble in finding sponsors, and was unable to participate in half out of the eight rounds in the FIA Asia Pacific Rally Championship. His team itself did not have enough money to pay for mechanics and maintenance of his vehicle, and due to his absence from so many rounds in the championship, the FIA slapped him with a fine of 10,000 Euros. Singh did not even have enough money to ship his vehicle back to Malaysia from New Zealand, which itself would cost about RM57,000. Singh's plight made the headlines of a few newspapers in Malaysia, who had been informed that Singh was in the process of selling off his apartment to pay his fine and ship his car home.

When informed about the possibility of receiving public or government assistance, Singh refused such offers, stating that he believed he could find enough corporate sponsors to avoid burdening the public. Rather than accepting assistance from individuals, Singh said he would consider racing for another country. When informed, the Prime Minister of Malaysia, Abdullah Ahmad Badawi reportedly asked: "If Karamjit is a Malaysian and has been producing results and bringing honour to the country, why has support not been accorded to him?"

The Malaysian Sports Minister, Azalina Othman Said, was also reported as stating that she had been ordered to look into the matter, and that "we want to find out why the private sector have not come forward and secondly, if Karamjit has someone to manage him and put forward his cause in the right perspective so sponsors can come forward and use the spin-off from their association."

 

[sakuraguy]

Karamjit, born & brought up in Malaysia, started rallying with the support of his friends in 1986, with the first rally car being Peugeot 404, belonging to his father. By 1988, Karamjit was driving the 'works Proton' for EON.

Rally of Thailand was Karam's first international event in 1991, where he won the 2WD category, driving 1600 cc twin-cam powered Saga and finished 6th overall ahead of a fleet of 4WD cars. In 1993, Karam finally got into EON teams' re-developed 4WD Iswara and also won the first National Rally Champion title of his career.

In 1997, Karam won the coveted Group N title at Asia Pacific Rally Championship. By 1999, Karam had six consecutive Malaysian National Rally Championship titles to his claim, besides several victories at other rallies such as Rally of Indonesia, Rally of Philippines & Rally of Thailand. Making his Indian debut under Team JK Tyre, Karam participated at 5 out of 8 rallies, which were part of Indian National Rally Championship. While he won Rally-de-Endurance at Bangalore, he ended up as runners-up in two other rallies.

In 2000, Karam gave a spellbinding performance, winning the Asia Pacific Rally Championship. Beginning his year 2001 with Asia Zone Rally Championship 2001 under Team JK Tyre, Karam is definitely one hot driver to look out for…

 

[sakuraguy]

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[sakuraguy]

Government to help Karamjit ?

October 28, 2005 at 11:38 am · Filed under Local News, Motorsports

Looks like Karamjit’s plight had reached the cabinet, thanks mostly to Malay Mail’s efforts. Our PM Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi raised the matter of Karamjit Singh’s lack of sponsorship to continue rallying at the cabinet on Wednesday. He asked, “If Karamjit is a Malaysian and has been producing results and bringing honour to the country, why has support not been accorded to him?”

Karamjit was slapped a RM46,000 (10,000 Euro) fine by FIA after he pulled out of the World Rally Championship due to lack of funds to run the races. He also needs RM57,000 to ship his car back from New Zealand. He is currently in the process of finalising the sale of his apartment to pay for the fine and the transport fees if there are no sponsors in the next few days.

Karamjit said he is touched by offers to set up funds to raise money for him to race, but he will not use public or Sports Ministry funds to race as he believes there are enough big corporations in Malaysia who can sponsor him. Otherwise, he will race for another country next year.

Sports Minister Datuk Azalina Othman Said said that the government will do whatever they can to assist. She mentioned there are several possibilities to help Karamjit continue racing and those options are being explored before a decision will be made.

 

[sakuraguy]

Why Can’t Karamjit Singh Secure Sponsorship?June 14, 2005 at 6:39 pm · Filed under Cars, Rants

That is the question that I am asking. That’s the question Karamjit himself is asking. And I bet almost every single automotive enthusiast who I know will be asking.

Together with his co-driver Allen Oh, Karamjit had won the FIA Asia Pacific Rally Championship (APRC) last year, as well as in 2001 and 2002. Because of him, Proton had also snagged the Manufacturer’s title in 2002 and 2004. Karamjit also took the Group N (Production car) titles in 1997, 2000 and 2001. (Source)

Isn’t this a proven track record for success? How come he is unable to get sponsorship from anyone?

Do you need more proof?

Career Highlights:
2004 FIA Asia Pacific Rally Champion
2002 FIA Production Car World Rally Champion
2002 FIA Asia Pacific Rally Champion
2001 FIA Asia Pacific Rally Champion
2001 Group N FIA Asia Pacific Rally Champion
2000 Group N FIA Asia Pacific Rally Champion
1998 Thailand National Rally Champion
1997 Group N FIA Asia Pacific Rally Champion
1990 – 1997 Malaysian Rally Champion

This year, Karamjit Singh drives with co-driver Jagdev Singh in a Proton PERT which is basically a Proton re-label of a Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution 7. Karamjit shipped his Proton PERT to New Caledonia in last month in hopes of competing in the rally but was forced to pull out last minute because he could not secure enough sponsors for the event. Even the FIA was understanding in this matter, because they knew Karamjit’s team was facing financial difficulties, they had subsidised the participation fees for the rally. After all, last year’s defending champion had to defend his title right? That was what FIA was thinking. But Karamjit was still short of cash for mechanics and tyres.

Karamjit will not be participating in the current round, Round 3, which is in Rotorua, New Zealand on the 17th and 19th. Round 4 would be in Hokkaido Japan. But guess where is Round 5’s venue? No where else but MALAYSIA! (19-21 August 2005) It would be a shame to see that our own Flying Sikh (Karamjit’s nickname) cannot even compete in his home grounds because he could not secure sponsorship!

This is what happens when you try to remain patriotic. Karamjit had put his faith in being able to get local corporate sponsorship for the 2005 APRC season. Why doesn’t the government step up and help him? They certainly have for other individuals competing in motorsports, who once obtained sponsorship completely disappointed us and vanished from the news. But this is a champion here. Karamjit has put Malaysia on the rallying map. Why not Proton help him? After all, he has Proton’s logos all over his Proton PERT. Proton is definitely cash-rich enough.

There are another 2 Malaysians participating in the APRC with driver Chee Hong Kan and co-driver Bernard Chin U-Min. They are driving a Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution VIII MR but they belong to Wan Yu Rally Team which comes from China, thus they are not a Malaysian team. Karamjit had actually been contemplating to race for an overseas-based factory team this season but he did not, for reasons which I will assume to be patriotism. Bad decision.

It’s not just about defending the APRC title. Even his career is in jeopardy now. FIA APRC’s rules state that he has to finish 6 out of the 8 races, otherwise he could be fined up to USD3000 per race. Last year he got first place for 4 out of the 6 rounds. This time, he can’t even participate in the 6 rounds. He has only been able to get enough money to run 3 rounds this year so far. In addition to the fear of the USD9000 fine (3 remaining races), the FIA could suspend his license. “They can suspend my licence. If I am under suspension, how am I going to earn a living?” said Karamjit.

Karamjit is also participating in the World Rally Championship (WRC) and he managed to get his best finish so far in the last race in New Zealand where he and his co-driver John Bennie finished fifth. Even in the WRC, a world-class event, he has not been able to secure enough sponsorships to enable him to finish his campaign.

Perhaps it’s just that rally isn’t hot in Malaysia as other motorsports such as Formula One. What a pity. I am really really really sad about Karamjit’s predicament.

Now, Karamjit has already had offers from two foreign manufacturer teams for him to drive for them. He is seriously considering the options now since his own country seems uninterested in the fact that he has made Malaysia proud in the international rally circles. Initial discussions with them have already begun.

“My first choice will be to continue driving for a Malaysian-backed team. That was the reason for staying with the Petronas Eon Racing Team (PERT) for the last 17 years. But the team will cease operations at the end of the year. Getting sponsors have been the big problem. If there is sponsorship overseas, why should I discard the opportunity?” said Karamjit in an article in The Star.

Malaysia, this is the only really good world champion we have. Please don’t force him to look overseas and make some other country/car manufacturer proud instead of our country. Don’t kill him off.

Vijay Singh suffered a similiar predicament in his golfing career. Now he’s one of the top people in golf, who even dethroned Tiger Woods as the world’s top golfer. Vijay applied for PR here in Malaysia but got rejected. Our Deputy Prime Minister even had the cheek to say “It’s fortunate that Vijay Singh was not granted the PR status, otherwise he would not have become the world’s number one golfer. That’s the truth.” WTF?!

Karamjit, I wish you the best of luck in your career.

 

[sakuraguy]

Karamjit will not be able to defend APRC title

August 14, 2005 at 9:59 am · Filed under Rants, Local News

Karamjit will not be participating in the current round, Round 3, which is in Rotorua, New Zealand on the 17th and 19th. Round 4 would be in Hokkaido Japan. But guess where is Round 5’s venue? No where else but MALAYSIA! (19-21 August 2005) It would be a shame to see that our own Flying Sikh (Karamjit’s nickname) cannot even compete in his home grounds because he could not secure sponsorship!

That was back in June. Two months has passed and he still has not been able to get sponsorship for the Malaysian leg of the championship.

He also has to miss the Britain rally because he could not find ANY sponsorship by the closing date on 10th August 2005.

So far in this year’s rally, Karamjit only managed to complete 3 stages with private sponsorship funds as a temporary measure while trying to secure long term sponsorship. Private sponsorship funds don’t really amount to much.

Karamjit is last year’s defending champion and this year he does not even have enough sponsorship to come back and defend his title.

He won the title last year with sponsorship from Proton but they did not even give enough funds to complete the whole championship. The Ministry of Youth and Sports had to give an additional RM500,000 sponsorship. But with this cash he went on and won the championship in both the drivers and manufacturer’s title.

Now that he has missed 4 out of 8 races, there is no more possibility of him defending his title.

Because of all his absense from races due to lack of funds, teh FIA has slapped a USD20,000 fine on him. That’s roughly RM76,000.

 

[Kafer]

When Tong Veng Kit passed away Petronas stopped their sponsorship for Team Petronas TVK racing team and eventually the team was disbanded. When we have a home grown rally champion creating a name for himself and the country Proton stopped sponsoring him. Whereas Petronas and Proton would dump in huge sums of money for other 'hopefuls' whom we are not sure will ever make it to the world stage and bring glory to the country....(keep dreaming)

I personally believe that Karamjit should look for other teams ie. if he still wants to continue racing. He should forget about racing for Proton, if they are not interested in him anymore, why bother because other big teams will readily take him anytime. What's the point of being patriotic and not being recognized and getting dumped like this...patriotism these days takes a back seat because first and foremost one has to take care of his/her rice bowl and family.

 

[Hazzim]

Is Karamjit's Public support fund still around?? would very much like to help him out .. We cant lose a Superb Racer and countrymen like Karamjit Singh ..!

 

[kher]

Mayb 1 day he'll be forced to race for overseas team. N dun be surprise 1 day when u watch the WRC highlights and see him driving a WRC rally car.

 

[hooligan74]

Guys, thanks for supporting Karamjit.

FYI, Karamjit is now driving for Team KST-Ralliart China in the Chinese Rally Championship. In the just concluded round in Guiyang, Karamjit was flying in his brand new Mitsubishi Evo 9, and was up to 2nd. overall when unfortunately a puncture on the last stage cost him 5 minutes and dropped him to finish 6th. The China Rally Championship is the most competitive championship in the world and even hotter than the P-WRC. Karamjit is competing against champions - Juha Salo (Finland), Jarrko Meitienen (Finland), Alister Mc Rae (UK), David Higgins (UK), Richard Mason (NZ), Takuma Kamada (Japan), Nico Caldalora (Italy), etc. His team mate in China is 2003 Production World Champion, Martin Rowe. About 100 cars compete in each round of the super competitive China rallies.

Karamjit also entered the Malaysian round of this year's APRC/ MRC in Johor and won the MRC outright in a 10 year old Evo 3, which he bought from his ex-employers (PERT) and re-furbished himself, using secondhand parts from the junk-shop.

He received a discount for the FIA fine and paid for it last year so that his licence would not be suspended. He still owes about RM75,000.00 for shipping fees from last year's aborted APRC campaign.

There is no sign of the promised support to date.

 

[Dr.D]

Hhehe

Malaysia Boleh!!!!! Yeah Right.... Only For Some People I Guess... My Salute To The Best Driver In Malaysia.... Hail Yeah To U Mr. Karamjit

 

[ehaab]

Karamjit is a gifted rally driver...i have the utmost respect for him..It is sad to see that due to financial problems he was unable to progress in this sport..

It seems they have money to build that useless 500million sports complex all the way in London...sometime i wonder which genius makes all these decisions...

No money to give to karamjit..no money to give a pay rise to the Police...

 

[killerloop25]

Bravo.....Finally the silence has been broken. I believe I've started this topic last years and the a guy from R3 wasn't too happy and falsely accused our world champion for not returning a dog box which was actually was with Nanda. This page is just wonderful.

 

[faisal]

*YAWN*

FACT is ,if it weren't for my friend Nanda collecting AND returning the 'box, doubt it would have come back on it's own from the World Champ....

wateva la. Die hard fans will always be die hard fans... rose-tinted glass and all..

I believe I did say I'm putting it behind me but killerloop25 has the "good grace" to dig to up again.

BTW Mr Karam Singh could learn a tip at appreciation from Alex Yoong. Post-Sprint Race win interview, Alex, after thanking his team says "Thank You to Proton for making it happen" Luvely. Bottom Line is Sponsors Luv to be mentioned and Thanked.

Anyways, at his age he should have the good grace to Retire, like Carlos Sainz, Tommi Makk, Juha Kankunen et all. He is I believe from the same generation as these great drivers.

It's much better to be remembered as a Group N World Champion ....

 

[killerloop25]

Nothing is being dug up here, what I'm saying here is facts and you know it too.
Looks to me that you're the only one slamming Karam to the ground which the others in this page are giving their outmost support to Karam.
What is it that you've againts Karam?
Did you have a bad experience with Karam?

I'm not saying that you're entirely wrong here but don't you think Karam's strong die hard fans hasn't any right to say good things about Karam?
This entire page was wonderfull but when you come along and pass crude remarks doesn't that make you feel akward?
Please don't get me wrong Faisal. But there are still some good things about Karam which many more can learn from when he is still in the sport.
Can you name me another rally driver which has produced the results that Karam has done over the years?
Come on and shoot some names.....are you gonna say Saladin?
It was well known that Guna is the closes that it had came to Karam so please don't throw me Saladin's name.
Don't get me wrong here again, Saladin is a good driver but not yet able to produce results unlike Karam.
Maybe one day....but not just yet.

If anyone who wants to know how good a driver Karam is then one should get into the rally senario together with Karam's team.
Please don't take this too personal as I'm just speaking in general rather than a personal attack.