TOC Alumni | Wan Mohd Zafuan Adi
Interview by Peter Burns – Asia Motorsport Development
Can you tell us a little bit about yourself why did you choose TOC?
Before this I did aircraft and aircraft maintenance, but I felt like that it was not for me. I have a long history of my love of cars, so I’m really interested in cars and I like motorsport. I went online and I saw TOC and they do motorsport and car maintenance, so since they have motorsport, I choose motorsport!
Have you always been interested in motorsport?
Yes, since I was a young kid. My first interest was through my brother who showed introduced me to rallying and I followed the Subaru team.
What course are you on at TOC and why did you chose it?
I am now doing a Diploma in Motorsports because, as I’ve said, I have huge interest in motorsport and I want to be involved in that scene in the future.
You have just been involved in your first weekend of racing at Sepang, why did you volunteer to be involved in the motorsport experience with Caterham?
I haven’t really done this before and I wanted to see how people handle motorsports, especially in the pits and what they do. It was fun!
We had a lot new guys from TOC that weekend and there was a lot of stress on the first day, how did you react to the pressure?
There was stress, but it was something that I like to do. The stress doesn’t really bother me and it was actually quite enjoyable working. The stress probably made people work even better!
How did you find the experience, did you enjoy it and what did you learn from it?
I enjoyed it. I learnt how to manage my time properly and how to handle the drivers and try to keep them happy before going out to the race. I also learnt how to keep the cars running correctly and to run down the checklist before you let the drivers drive their cars.
What important lessons did you learn and what sticks out in your mind? Was it timing, precision, teamwork? What do you draw from your experience?
I learnt a lot about timing, especially when you have to get the cars ready before the race starts. So preparing the cars and the driver.
Yes timing was a particular issue on the Saturday with accident damage that had to be repaired and getting two of the cars of the drivers Sidqi Ahmed and Shirendra Lawrence out on time, particularly Sidqi who made it out with just seconds to spare!
You enjoyed the experience, but what really got you motivated? What did you really enjoy?
The adrenaline which really starts pumping as the time is counting down. You have to get your car out, you have to check everything. And also watching your racer go around the track in the car that you have prepared and watching him win the race!
There is a great benefit if you are part of the team that wins! With the education you have received from TOC, what was useful when applied to the motorsport experience?
Probably the discipline, such as to keep the tools properly so that you know where to find them quickly. And also some of the techniques you learn at TOC, such as how you use the torque wrench, and the other type of equipment you can use.
What are your career aspirations? Where do you want to be in 10 or 20 years’ time?
I want to be doing mostly time attack. I want to have my own racing team in the future and working on cars really and their performance. I will have to learn the business side as well.
So what is the next step on your career path after you leave TOC?
My Dad has some contacts somewhere in Australia and I was thinking of migrating there and maybe do a degree there in motorsports.
Australia is a good place for motorsport, it is a big country, which is dominated by the V8 Supercars and has a great motorsport scene. The great thing is that the experience you will have gained from Caterham and TOC is that they are drivers and teams are always looking for help, you might not necessarily always get paid when you are at the lower level, but it is a great introduction and great further experience.
I am always happy to volunteer for something that I like!