(, born
July 20 1976 ) is a
Malaysia n
Race Car driver. He was born in Kuala Lumpur and of mixed parentage — his mother Joanna Bean is from
England , while his father, a Malaysian with Chinese ethnic roots is Hanifah Yoong Yin Fah (熊英華), a former racer and manager of the Shah Alam circuit between 1988 and 1998. He married Arriana Teoh in 2002 and a son named Alister was born in 2003.
His early racing career started in saloon cars in 1992 when he was 16. He then went on to win the first ever single seater race held in China - the Formula Asia International race - in the streets of Zhuhai in 1994. He won the 1995 Malaysian Formula Asia championship and was the runner up in the same year's Formula Asia International championship with multiple wins and podium positions. The European campaign started with the British Formula Renault in 1996 and 1997, then two partially completed British Formula 3 seasons in 1998 and 1999 due to the Asian financial crisis. He had a podium second in Brands Hatch's F3 race in 1998 and was often in the top 5.
His career took a step up with Formula 3000 halfway through 1999 and he achieved a credible second in the rain soaked Donington Park circuit in the same year. A much publicised massive accident in the Formula 1 weekend's F3000 race at Spa's Eau Rouge saw him sidelined for 2 weeks before taking to the tracks again in Italy. He then drove a season and a half in the Formula Nippon championship in 2000 and 2001 before he was offered the Formula 1 drive with Minardi.
Backed by the Malaysian lottery company Magnum he was given the chance to drive three
Formula One races in 2001 for the
Minardi team, debuting at the
Italian GP . The deal was extended for the whole 2002 season, however after a good result of seventh in the Australian Grand Prix he struggled to be competitive. After failing to qualify for some races, he was replaced by
Anthony Davidson for two mid-season races. Although his form did improve afterwards, his Formula One career ended at the close of season. He competed in 18 Grands Prix with a best result of 7th in the
2002 Australian Grand Prix . Despite proving his true talent as a driver with some sterling drives in
A1GP 's inaugural season and in the
2006 Le Mans 24 Hours, Alex still holds the somewhat dubious honour of being the 21st Century's least successful F1 driver, coming away with no points and 3 non-qualifications. The only other driver since the year
2000 to have failed to qualify for a race is the man Yoong replaced at
Minardi ,
Tarso Marques at the
2001 British Grand Prix .
()
- First ethnic Chinese Formula 1 driver
- First Malaysian Formula 1 driver
After his Formula 1 career, Yoong initially struggled to remain visible in international motorsports. A promising start in the American
Champcar series in 2003 (9th in Mexico), his season was cut short due to the team's lack of funds, and Yoong failed to impress in his few drives in the Australian
V8 Supercar series in 2004. He has remained an enthusiastic promoter of motorsports in his home country however, and has been seen doing media and Formula 1 commentating work for Malaysian television and
ESPN-Star . He also co-presented Formula One live coverage at
8TV .
Yoong has won three races: two sprint races and one feature race.]]
He now drives for
A1 Team Malaysia in the new
A1GP series. He finished his 2005-06
A1GP season with one race win at
Shanghai International Circuit , China, and two second places at
Sentul Circuit , Indonesia and Shanghai. With Yoong and
Fairuz Fauzy ,
A1 Team Malaysia finished in fifth place overall. This is impressive considering his poor run in F1.
During the
2006-07 A1 Grand Prix Season , Yoong has remained with
A1 Team Malaysia , winning both races of the second round of the championship at
Brno . He scored another win on the Mexico Sprint race.
After the 2005-06
A1GP , Yoong raced in the 2006
Le Mans Series as well as the 2006 Le Mans 24 Hrs for
Jan Lammers , the
A1 Team Netherlands seat holder with team
Racing For Holland . Yoong was very competitive, holding third position in Lammers' Dome-Judd when the throttle stuck, sending the car into the wall at the first chicane on the Mulsanne straight and breaking both steering arms.
After the 2006-07
A1GP , Yoong will once again return to the
Le Mans Series with
Charouz Racing Systems . He will team up with
Jan Charouz of the
Czech Republic and
Stefan Mucke of
Germany . The team will enter the most famous of endurance races, the
24 Heures Du Mans and the complete
Le Mans Series . In addition, two American races, the
Petit Le Mans and
Laguna Seca , have been added to this busy schedule.
