Iskandar Malaysia needs to transform into a new metropolis as part of the 3 critical success factor. What I mean by a new metropolis is a place where people not only work but play as well. It needs to have a “lifestyle” element to it. FASTrack Iskandar is one of major development that is set to complete in 2016. Designed by world renowned track designer Hermann Tilke, it features a 4.4km Grade 1 track, a 1.2km karting track, and another off-road track for sports utility vehicles.
Have you ever came across a luxury car… stuck in a traffic jam? Sometimes I would come across some high powered car like a Ferrari driving side by side me in a traffic jam. I would think to myself, “Well, not much good your high powered car is doing you since we are driving at the SAME PACE.” Maybe it’s just me.
Of course there are still the Malaysian expressways where you could speed. I know of many foreigners that obey the speed limit while they are in their home country. But once they arrive in Malaysia… it’s where they “let loose” and race down the expressways. How do they avoid getting a speeding ticket? If you need to ask, then you are most probably not a Malaysian or Singaporean.
Once FASTrack Iskandar is completed, car owners now have an avenue to test drive their cars and go for their adrenaline rush. Think of FASTrack Iskandar as “a playground for the rich” and for motorsports enthusiast. Its proximity to Singapore has also attracted keen interest from across the Causeway.
Channel News Asia reported that the motor sports community in Singapore is gearing up for the new attraction. The dream of Singapore Motor Sports Association to have a motor sports hub in Changi was dashed last year. Now, it believes it has found an alternative venue to hold its races in FASTrack Iskandar, which is just a 10-minute drive from the Second Link.
Tan Teng Lip, president of Singapore Motor Sports Association, said: “It (FASTrack Iskandar) is a full-fledged motor racing track, so we can have national events both for cars, motorcycles and go-karts. Even if we do not have all our events there, we can have part of the rounds of the championships there using the circuit.”
Roland Chong, principal of Kartmaster Drakar Racing Team, said: “Once there is a permanent and more easily accessible track — an international standard track — I think the growth will be much more stable, and I think we will see more drivers, more karters.”
FASTrack Iskandar will also bring considerable cost savings to Singaporeans as oppose to using the Sepang International Circuit which represents a 342km drive up north. Matthew Ng, an amateur racer, said: “For us to prepare our cars to go all the way up to Sepang, that will incur us about, say, S$300 to and fro, inclusive of petrol, inclusive of toll fees. And we are not talking about the car set-up cost, the cost to run the tyres all the way up and all the way down. So there will be a lot of cost savings, that’s for sure.”
FASTrack Iskandar is part of a larger development named Motorsports City located in Gerbang Nusajaya. Motorsports City will consist of commercial and residential developments, showrooms, continental and Asian spare parts hub, garages as well as entertainment outlets. It is able to accommodate corporate events, conferences and motoring exhibitions. There are speculations that one of the proposed stops for the High Speed Rail (HSR) connecting Kuala Lumpur to Singapore is at Gerbang Nusajaya. Interesting development indeed for Nusajaya, Iskandar Malaysia.
David Chong is a Property Infopreneur & founder of InsideIskandar.my. He helps property investors in understanding Iskandar Malaysia.
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