Team Malaysia newsletter 2009-09-7

A1 TEAM MALAYSIA EMBRACES THE "1MALAYSIA" INITIATIVE AND LAUNCHES ITS NEW RACING LOGO

The unity initiative recently launched by Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak, the Prime Minister of Malaysia called "1Malaysia", is a philosophy which is close to the heart of A1 Team Malaysia.

The motor racing team which represents the country in the A1GP World Cup of Motorsport, the nation-versus-nation international racing series, was conceived five years ago with the aim of drawing together Malaysians to form a national racing team. The team embodies 1Malaysia with a crew which is both multi-racial and multi-denominational and competes for the pride of the country, for the pride of Malaysia!

A1 Team Malaysia is a team made up of ethnic Malays, Indians with diverse religious backgrounds, Muslims of Chinese and Malay origin (as represented in the picture that is distributed with this announcement) as well as Caucasians.

The fundamental concept of 1Malaysia is an appreciation of the diversity of the nation's people; its goal is to preserve and enhance this unity and cultural diversity whilst recognising that everyone shares a desire for a better tomorrow, within the bounds of opportunity, respect, friendship and understanding. 1Malaysia energetically reinforces this and encourages everyone to define Malaysia and the role Malaysians must play in its future.

A1 Team Malaysia is proud to represent the nation on a global platform, showcasing national brands and companies by using the powerful medium of motorsport. Since its inception, the team has recruited and developed its own Malaysian crew of specialist race mechanics and technicians, as well as commercial people, who are now in demand from other high-profile international teams, having been given the necessary top-level international motorsport training and experience.

Jack Cunningham, Chief Executive, A1 Team Malaysia says of 1Malaysia, "A1 Team Malaysia wholeheartedly supports the ethos of this initiative and applauds Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak for creating a forum for nurturing, promoting and encouraging the nation to consider the future and recognising the importance of unity within the diversity of the population.

In our team we only succeed through focussing on a common goal of uniting together with the purpose of achieving excellence. In our case this is to be victorious at A1GP racing events but, whether we cross the line first or not, ultimately our success is measured in the strength of our teamwork and how we strive together to win.

Therefore, it is highly appropriate and relevant that we now incorporate the 1Malaysia logo in to our own. This is a very satisfying and relevant progression of our motorsport brand."

The team has been competing in the A1GP World Cup of Motorsport for the past four years and has consistently finished in the top 10 in an illustrious, yet short, life-time and is regarded as a potential championship title contender having finished 6th overall of the 22 teams competing in the last season.

The A1GP World Cup of Motorsport has grown its annual world wide audience from 60,000,000 to in excess of 100,000,000 in 4 years.

The series is carried by 80 broadcasters world-wide and enjoys a growing regional audience.

In Malaysia the proud and loyal home TV audience now exceeds 2,000,000, with an average of 10,000,000 people watching every race world-wide.

A1 Team Malaysia has a web-based fan club of more than 35,000 members with whom the team communicates on a weekly basis.

The team is currently preparing for a new season of racing which starts next month at Surfers Paradise in Australia, 23-25 October 2009.

-credit: malaysia