Starting 'Em Young

As competition heats up, the acceptable age for a world champion these days has sharply reduced.

If racers were crowned champions in their 40s during the 1950s and 60s, world champions nowadays can be as young as 18 as proven by Valentino Rossi when he first won the 125cc world motorcycle championship in 1997.


Starting them young is the current order of the day, with parents starting to invest in their children’s future as soon as they begin to walk!

In Malaysia, former motocross racer Suhadi Ali Rahmat is the epitome of a successful youngster. His father started training him in motocross since he was only 12.

By 14, he was already the National Cub Cross champion. He then went on to win all available national titles. In 2001 and only 17 year old, Suhadi had won the International Motocross Open Championship before switching to road racing.

He is now racing with Team PETRONAS Sprinta and currently Malaysia’s best bet to replace former MotoGP rider Shahrol Yuzy Ahmad Zaini.

Pic: Suhadi Ali Rahmat (left) with the late Head of PETRONAS Motorsports, Pn. Norhayati Md Ali. May Allah widen your final resting place. Al Fatihah.