Drag race crash: We couldn't keep spectators away

Spectators were not meant to stand at the side of the road where a drag racer crashed his car during last Saturday's Hari Belia event in Putrajaya, said a race marshal from the event's organiser, MUSC Motorsports.

Four men sustained serious injuries while 13 others were also hurt in the accident at the event jointly organised by the Youth and Sports Ministry and MUSC Motorsports.

According to to two eyewitnesses, who were among the injured, the side of the road where the car had crashed was not shielded by metal barriers, unlike the opposite side of the road. There were only bushes separating the crowd from the road.

When contacted, the MUSC Motorsports official confirmed that there were no barriers on one side of the road, but clarified that the crowd was not meant to watch the race from there.

"One hour before the event, we already had people on duty chasing the crowd away (from the side of the road)," said the official, who declined to be named.

According to him, the crowd was only meant to watch the race from the side where metal barriers were put up.

When asked why the crowd was allowed to eventually watch the race from the unprotected side, he explained that they could not manage to keep the people away as the crowd was large.

‘Drag race not sanctioned'

Meanwhile, the Motorsports Association of Malaysia (MAM) said it did not sanction that drag race.

In a report by theSun, MAM chief executive officer Razlan Razali said that the Youth and Sports Ministry, which is MAM's parent body, did not approach them for advice on managing any of the motorsports events in the Hari Belia event at Putrajaya.

"All the events held there were unsanctioned events; the organisers did not follow any of our safety regulations," he said, adding that they did not know all the details of organising such events.

"A lot of the cost of sanctioning goes to insurance coveage. The price of sanctioning includes third-party insurance. Everyone is covered. More importantly, sanctioning imposes a minimum safety standard which covers the racers, crews and spectators," he added.

When asked about a comment by Youth and Sports Minister Ahmad Shabery Cheek (in red shirt) that there was no sanctioning body to supervise such events, Razlan said this was not true and that the minister had been misinformed.

Two bodies are responsible for monitoring motorsports in Malaysia, according to Razlan - the Automobile Association of Malaysia (AAM) and the MAM. 

View video of drag racing incident here (8.04 mins)