Let me ask you guys something. Why do you think that we do not have enough drivers as compared to the europeans? The cost of goods? The promotors of the events? What do you think?

I think a small part of it might actually be that it's HOT. Who wants to be in a race suit in the glaring sun all day?

Another possible aspect is spending culture - In Europe it seems that more middle-class earners are willing to spend a large chunk of their income on hobbies or to support their kid's hobby (not just karting), whereas in Asia for most only when you're really wealthy do you start to spend lots of money on something like karting. Of course there is a difference in levels of income that is a huge contributor. Then again Brazil who has an almost identical GDP per capita to Malaysia has a much stronger karting scene - they do of course have decades of motorsports heritage to help them out a bit.

Also the DIY culture in Asia isn't very strong (cheap labor - why fix it when someone else will do it cheaper than you could). In most European countries every household has a good set of tools for basic repairs around the house for example or for self-maintenance of road cars. It's a lot easier then to go out and buy a kart and keep it and work on it at home - many people also have garage space where they can park their trailer and kart.

Just some random ideas that popped in my head - not sure if the views on difference in culture are accurate at all.

I think the points that you brought up are very true. I personally feel that in Asia especially to make it a little more crude we can be a little "stingy" when it comes to investing in hobbies like these. It is very likely that doing something that is free will be more openly accepted.

I think a lot of times in South east asia, parents are not as supportive for their kids hobbies as compared to europeans. Not everyone will have a dad that Lewis hamilton has you know? We hope to have, but its rare.

So when these kids grow up, they either lose the interest or they are too busy to indulge in this hobbie, EVEN if they had the money to do so.

One other factor is that Since the karts are made in Europe, it is much cheaper to race there as compared to race in Asia. And in Europe, the countries are all interlinked so racing in series is much easier too. Unlike us, we will have to pack and ship our gear everytime we want to go to another place to race.

Take the US for example, some of them race all year round and spend their lives in their huge semi trailers with their karting gear. Perhaps when we have long bridges to link our countries together, we won't be as established as them. But with the introduction of SQ racing, if they can be as good as they claim, it will only do wonders for the racing scene in Asia as a Whole. One country that we can really take after is Japan. Their land space is small but yet their karting scene there is so big.

I am just crossing my fingers hoping that Singapore and malaysia F1 races will raise more awareness of motorsports in this Region.

we have sponsor problems manly. for events organisers, race team & drivers.

Here we have to hunt for sponsor. over there sponsors look for them.

In this region its important the Government take part in this sports.

I'll have to disagree. Nowhere in the world do sponsors come looking for you except maybe in F1, Nascar, and the like. Well unless that sponsor happens to be Red Bull (all sorts of driver sponsorships from karting to F1), Petronas (Formula Experience Driver Search), or in India recently Amaron.

There was not a sponsor logo in sight anywhere in the club racing I did in Finland, and no money was coming from the government to support the racing. Club racing was largely done on volunteer-basis and funded with club membership and entry fees. Drivers are funded by themselves or their parents.

well i base it on a fren.

Racing in Asian, his father had to look for sponsors to help fund his karting career. im guessing maybe getting 2 out of 10 tries.

Then he was lucky enough to race in Europe. his 1st test, already sponsor cameup to him. Arai sponsor him a SK5. since he used Dunlop, they sign him up right away. guess in fear he might move to BS ro Vega.

heres the kicker, he haven't turn a wheel.

Yeah but we're talking club level stuff here, I assume this karting in Europe wasn't a small club event? Club racing which is pretty much what most of Karting in Asia is if you base it on numbers - you won't get Arai sponsoring helmets here because there is no market here for them. Arai does give helmets away like candy in all sorts of top racing series' in Japan and Europe because it's part of their marketing strategy - have everyone who is anyone on an Arai so nobody thinks of buying anything else.

Remember we're talking about the majority of karting drivers - not the few that race high up and need lots of money to succeed. Sponsorship at the top level doesn't do much for the bottom, low-level karting in many European countries has flourished despite a lack of sponsors running to you.

I also know a guy that was able to do a fair bit of car racing in Asia a lot of it sponsored by with Asian money - he went to Europe and spent a year there and could only gather enough money to do a few tests - which were probably from his own pocket anyway.

I think by far the biggest factor is cost. In relation to the average local salaries, karting is expensive and although you can reduce the costs by DIY and being conservative with major items like tyres (incidentially, I've never used 3 sets of tyres for a weekend!), it's still a big percentage of the slary of a normal local guy (or gal).

The other big difference with Europe is availability and organisation of races. In Europe, the scene is big enough that there's races all the time and in any possible class you want to race in. Here in Malaysia, we've got a much smaller group of people and seem to have discouraged them from turning up to races. I'm always amazed looking at KartQuest's garage - there's 25+ karts in it but 20 of them haven't been used for the last 2 years.

So, what we have is a situation where there is a big group of people who regularly run in some form of fun karting - the my-Kart group is very successful and so is the Inter-Club series run at Elite but there's nothing between that and the main RMC/KKS/Roc series. Someone who does want to move up faces huge costs and is very likely to be uncompetitive at first so will normally give up quickly.

So, how about running a class (or even a whole series) for 125 karts where the chassis and engine must be at least 2 years old, tires are heavily restricted - so either 1 set of hard MRF's are used for the whole series or only used sets of Mojo's from RMC can be used (we've all got plenty of these!). This might bridge the gap a bit.

Like it or not, This sport is not cheap. It is something that people do mainly because they have extra cash. It is unlike football or basketball.

Back in the days when i was racing in Australia, I will see people use up to 5 sets of tires for one weekend. Different compounds and brands. And have you ever seen people that does testing with all the tillet seat models? Well i have. Karting at the top is big money and that is something that we cannot avoid.

Karting is not for the financially strained. Period. So i think the main reason that people in european countries have more interest in the sport is mainly because of the mindset. In europe, the chances of blowing 50% of your salary on a kart is not outrageous. But in Asia, we tend to be a bit more stingy than that.

You can forget that. I live in Belgium, and we do not have 5 drivers sponsored. (Exept from daddy... or his company)

Basically, i dont agree with the stingy concept. Yes, it may be true that "saving" is one of the Asian core values but i dont think it is the most contributing factor. Let me introduce a perceptive to this topic. Economy.

It is a well documented fact that the Europeans are far more advanced and their economies are way ahead of their Asian counterparts. However, one must note that Asia is fast catching up on Europe, evident from China, India or even Vietnam economies. Singapore is in there too =p.

Basically, Europe were like Asia in the past. They had to work hard to get to where they are today. In short, their economies improved after the industrialization period and they grew from strength to strength after that. The thing is, with much success in their hands, Europe need not work as hard and they place more emphasis on leisure. This leads to shorter working hours and development of their entertainment, sporting scenes which today, are spinning huge revenues.

On the other hand, Asia's development is far slower and has been largely regarded as the developing region. This mainly because they industrialized later that the Europeans i think (if my memory serves me right). The Asia region on a whole is trying very hard to catch up with their Europeans counterparts. Which is why Asians have been regarded as the hardworking bunch of ppl who do not know how to enjoy life. This hardworking attitude towards their jobs leaves very little time for leisurely activities like sports or musicals which further accounts for the relatively undeveloped sporting, art, entertainment scenes in the Asia region. On top of that, with not much spending avenues, they developed the value of saving their cash for rainy days.

However, it must be noted that from the late nineties til today, Asia have been making huge steps forward. They are closing up the gap with Europe! prob 5-10 years behind only i feel. With more advancement and success in their hands, Asians need not work as hard anymore and are placing more emphasis on leisure. This is evident in Singapore as they recently implemented the 5-day work week. This results in the development of sporting and entertainment scenes in the Asia region in the recent years as seen from the many F1 Asian tracks. As such, Asians of today are more willing to spend money on leisure activities. Personally, i feel that the time of Asia has come and the sporting scenes, karting in this case, in Asia will developed rapidly within the next few years.

On top of that, Asian countries are also using global sporting events to further boost their economies considering the huge amounts of revenues that can be reaped. In no time, Asia can be on par with Europe!

Therefore, the willingness or unwillingness to spend on leisure activities, karting in this case, i feel is bounded by the economy/development of the country. The above mentioned is just one of the main contributing factors, i do acknowledge the existence of other factors such as mindsets etc.

PS: This above is merely my personal opinion.