Fariqe Hairuman: learning the ropes

By Dave Brockman:

19 March 2004

Malaysian driver Fariqe Hairuman has spent the winter working on his fitness and learning the UK circuits. He's looking forward to his first British Touring Car race and at Donington we grabbed a quick word with him:

Welcome to the BTCC. How's the test been going today?

It wasn't too bad actually. I'm pretty comfortable now. I'm happy with the car right now, the new car is much better than last year's car. I've also had a lot of support from the team.

They've changed all the chassis, the suspension, the braking systems, everything. The car responds very quickly and it's going very well.

Within the team do you and Shaun share your data and experiences or is there a lot of rivalry between you?

We share a lot and between us work out what we need to make the car better. We discuss everything that goes on whether it's good or not.

How did you get into motorsport?

I've done a lot of racing out of Malaysia. We've got some good racers over there and if you're new there's a lot of help and that's good.

I did a lot of racing in Asian Touring Cars, then endurance racing where I got quite a few wins. I've done a lot of racing!

The Malaysian government have invested a lot in motorsport, has that been a help?

That's right, the government built the circuit at Sepang and are looking for new young drivers and to help develop the level of racing drivers.

What are your hopes for the year? Will you be in a position to challenge for any wins?

For this year I'm hoping to learn how the BTCC works, who the competition is and to get as much experience as possible.