TWO months after turning 99-years-old, former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad was seen satisfying his “need for speed” at the Sepang International Circuit (SIC) recently.
SIC chairman Tan Sri Mohamed Azman Yahya accompanied Mahathir in the car ride - initially taking an Audi Q5 SUV for a spin, to which the nonagenarian seemed unperturbed when Azman started picking up the pace, according to a Facebook.
Later in the video, Mahathir himself was seen driving the Audi at an impressive speed of 154 kilometres per hour (km/h)
During the ride, Azman asked Mahathir why the renowned circuit was built.
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Mahathir, in his response, said the purpose of the racing track was to “stimulate” the nation’s tourism industry and provide “entertainment” to the people through hosting international motorsports tournaments.
The conception of SIC was initially carried out with the intent of hosting Formula1 races.
“The people want to see something. They see (only) on the (television) screen, they want to see the real thing.
“So Basir (former SIC chairman) and I talked about it and we thought that it’s worthwhile to invest,” he said in the video.
Besides that, Mahathir also said not many countries thought of hosting motorsporting events such as Formula One during that period when it was first built.
“We were the first developing country,” he added.
