SEPANG F1 6,7 & 8 April 2007 - Be There.

Mokhzani driven by the excitement of F1
PETALING JAYA: He has been the Sepang International Circuit (SIC) chairman for three years now – but the job is not getting any easier for Datuk Mokhzani Mahathir.
In between challenges like continuously surprising people and ensuring that SIC does a perfect job, he knows he has to ensure that the F1 Grand Prix race stays in Malaysia past 2010.
“I am always a tough guy. It will be the same during negotiations,” Mokhzani said in an interview.
“We have taken away all the reasons why it should not be held here. Now, it is about giving Formula One Management (FOM) all the reasons why it should.”
Last year, SIC renewed its contract with FOM, the worldwide rights holder of the F1 World Championships, for five years.
Mokhzani said on Wednesday that the Government was committed to ensuring that the country remained on the Grand Prix circuit beyond 2010.
He added that the challenge was to ensure that the race was a win-win situation, adding that a lot of justification needed to be given to the Government and FOM.
Mokhzani also said he was “not very worried” about other countries, like Singapore, bidding to host F1 races.
At least five races will be hosted in the Asia-Pacific from 2010 – one each in Australia, Malaysia, China, Japan and South Korea.
“F1 has done for Malaysia what other media cannot,” said Mokhzani, adding that the race was a “fantastic tourism tool” for the country.
“You just have to tell them about F1 and they will ask when is it. Nine times out of 10, people want to watch it.”
In spite of a hectic lifestyle, being SIC chairman is probably the one thing he has his father’s blessings to do.
“I am honoured to do this. It was one of his dreams and now I understand why he supported F1,” Mokhzani said of his father, former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.
Mokhzani said motorsports also gave him the chance to meet people he would otherwise not have met, such as racing legend Jackie Stewart and the Ferrari team.
“I am a man who loves cars and people like Jackie Stewart and the Ferrari boys were those you saw in posters. Now they are my friends. We speak the same language,” he added.