Content area
Full Text
Motor racing.
ALEX Yoong saw the chequered flag for the first time in his Formula One career when he finished 16th at the Japan Grand Prix yesterday.
He recovered well from starting in the pits as well as cramps to finish the race in 16th position capping a memorable debut.
And what started with a dream debut in Melbourne, just over seven months ago, when European Minardi F1 driver, Fernando Alonso, finished 12th in an untried car, and ended on an equally positive note in Suzuka.
The team had a small fright prior to the start of the race, when an electrical fault forced Alex to switch to the spare car in order to take his position on the grid.
Quick work by the mechanics solved the problem, however, and it was decided to switch the young Malaysian driver back to his race chassis, with the result that he started from the pit lane.
"I had a bit of a drama at the beginning because of a problem on my race car and had to switch to the spare car," said Alex.
"The mechanics were able to fix the problem before the race started, however, a decision was taken to switch back to the race car and start from the pit-lane."
"For some reason, when I got back into my race car, the seat was not quite right and I started to feel pain in my back."
"After the first three or four laps, and...