Drifting with Leona Chin

Leona Chin is one of the most famous motorsport athletes in the world, a reality TV star in China and Malaysia, and a mentor to young women in Asia who want to go into motorsports. She's also a world class Drifter. It all started when she convinced her mother to let her buy a Nissan 180 SX...

Watch the opening spoof with over 20 million views here on the video version of this podcast.

Leona Chin on the Porsche EV trip.

Here is the Student Driver spoof, the first of her commercials to trend with hundreds of millions of views.

The fall and the Chinese reality TV show we discuss is here.

Full subtitles are here, too.

You can find out more about Leona Chin on her website.

Follow Leona Chin on Instagram.

Follow the show @forevermotoringpod.
 

Transcript

Drifting with Leona Episode 008 on FM

​[00:00:00] Commerical where Leona (an expert racecar driver and drifter) pretends to be a sales associate at a car dealership and gives the customers the test ride of their lives.

Leona: Hi, sir. Can I help you sir? Have you owned the Triton before? Yeah, I own the previous model of seven Upgrade. Okay. Yeah, it has a push start, push that button KIS operation, uh, fully automatic climate control. Mm-hmm. What's your name, [00:01:00] Cheryl? Really soft hands. Oh, thank you. No, you are wrong. Actually, you have to put it in neutral first, 

oh, what's a pretty good, like you're doing, selling cars. You know, 'cause I have a girlfriend. It's okay. She's not really here, why not you give it a test drive.

Let me drive back. You wanna drive back here? Do you want to see what this car can really do? Yeah, sure. Sit there. Hey, you know, to handle this car, this is a man's car. I know. So this is a shortcut back home? Yeah. Okay.

What the,

are you, are you crazy? What? What?[00:02:00] 

Can we go again? 

--

Andrea: Hello, everyone. Welcome to Forever Motoring I am so glad you're here today.  You probably heard it's a little different of an intro that was actually our guest  Leona Chin. In a commercial that has over 20 million views. And I have to say, if you can, you should also go watch the YouTube video. Of this podcast. It's the first time we have a YouTube up of other, I'm going to add all the videos from the other ones, too. But, uh, this one in particular, there's a lot of like that commercial that starts  this podcast. And there's this great drifting scene, which I love from Fast and Furious, which I just had to put in because it's so beautiful. They're like winding down this mountain road at night drifting. And drifting is something Leona's an expert at. Um, among many things, but in any case,  the audio is really good and the video is really good in a very different way. So they're very different experiences, but I encourage you to watch the video for sure. So you can see all of Leona's great commercials and,  the reality TV shows she was in, in China, what she talks about. There's clips of all that in. The video you'll even hear at some here in the audio.

 I'll be sure to put all of that in the show notes, links to the videos and everything will be there and also to the commercial that started this podcast , 

I don't even want to try to go through the list of amazing accomplishments of Leona Chin, but let's just say she's one of the all time best Motorists in the world and she's a real inspiration to so many women. Um, she's beyond famous and more than more than one country. And she's also just a really lovely human being and someone that frankly, I'm just glad exists in the world of Forever Motoring. I love talking to her and I love hearing about all her wins. 

And I'm sure there's still many more to come. Uh, so I'm just going to let this one speak for itself.  Leona Chin. She's a force of nature in drifting. And  📍 racing and, and all the rest let's go. /

Andrea: Hi Leona. It's so nice to meet you. Thank you for being on Forever Motoring today. 

Leona: Hi Andrea. Thank you for inviting me to your 

Andrea: interview. Great. It's great to see you. So this podcast is about what moves us and the ways that we move. Tell me about a moment in your life when you remember being moved.

Well, 

Leona: At first I was thinking the moment I feel moved is when, uh, I was actually inside a drift car. So on one day when I was, uh, attending a event, a drift event and somebody my friend, he said, why don't you just, uh, sit in a drift car? I was a bit afraid because of the safety, aspect, but he said, no worries.

I'll strap you on with a harness and also a, safety helmet. Just, , sit inside and enjoy it. Then I said, all right. And when the moment, , I started [00:03:00] drifting the car, I was really, in, uh, shock and also excitement. So that's when I feel like, , I want, really want to try it one day.

And that's really caught me to feel like, oh, I really wanna, do motor sport in the future. 

Andrea: That's great. I, I really wanna talk about drifting. It's such a cool thing. I mean, even just watching it, you get a certain, sensory feeling. anytime I watch someone do it, I feel something special.

So I wonder how old were you when you first had that experience, and do you remember what the feeling was like? 

Leona: I think I, I was, about 17 or 18 years old. It was, uh, the time when I was still studying in college and , just got my driving license. , the feeling was pretty, uh, excited because the sound and the smoke, the way the driver maneuvers the car, , he fix the steering wheel really quickly to [00:04:00] initiate the drift.

And everything was happening so quickly that a lap around the track, uh, it was just less than a minute. So I was really trying to absorb everything , as fast as possible. So, it kept me like, I would love to learn it one day. So I asked around, um, where could I learn drifting?

And not really, many people would, uh, encourage this because of me being a female, female, but they, they try their best to accommodate me. And they say, oh, you could contact so and so, and this guy's good. This guy's good teach you. But just saying

not really, uh, do it as action. So, actually when I, I got my Drift car, which is a Nissan 180 SX I was, very eager to learn, drifting, but, I, I didn't actually,, learn [00:05:00] it, professionally. So, actually, it occurred, um, by accident. When my car was in the workshop and during the car being, um, fixed, it had a, some malfunction in the engine.

So I went over next door to a workshop and, The guy who helped me out was actually a drift car driver that I met during the event. Oh, wow. And he was a bit, a bit shocked, like, why do you drive a 180 SX? And, I told him, yeah, I, I take this car to college 'cause I really like cars and it's an automatic car.

And I really like the looks of it. And, and after that he was like very curious and he said, come sit down with me. Um, we have, a cup of tea and, we can discuss, if you want to learn drifting, I can teach you. Then I was a bit, skeptical at first. It's like, is this a scam or something?

Yeah. Then, but I was really eager [00:06:00] to learn, drifting from a mentor and he was really willing to teach me. In return. I, I told him, I'm not rich person. I'm actually still a student, so how can I, repay you? And he said, uh, do you know how to use a computer and, uh, internet and,, create a website?

And then I said, I know how to use a computer and, creating a website, is, is not in my skillset, but I'll, uh, try my best to help you. Then he said, it's, that's a great, great plan and if you can, help me to promote my Drift team in the website, in the internet, , I'll teach you for free.

And I said, oh, that's a great, great deal. So I did that. And yeah, we, we, we started off, uh, so, , I became his , web admin and, did the, the work for him, like, uploading photos in his website about his team and promoting his, race team. To the internet. And then at night, uh, [00:07:00] like Saturday, Friday night, Saturday night, he said, okay, you bring your car over to the Go Cart track, which he has some connection with.

And then he said, okay, just bring some spare tires and we will start our training lesson. And I was really excited the first time I, I went there, um, he taught me how to do the donut and the figure eight, and I managed to learn it in just one night of intensive drifting. Uh, yeah, about one night could be, , I think about three hours of intensive.

Andrea: Wow. That's very unusual, right? Yeah. Yeah. 

Leona: He told me that, I learned very quickly um, I was very eager, very willing to change my own tires and do everything, to learn, drifting. So he was very, uh, helpful in that way like a mentor and he taught me, uh, the basics of drifting.

So I was, uh, followed his team around and he actually is the organizer for Drift [00:08:00] events. So, um, during, the events, I would actually be at the counter collecting ticket money. I worked part-time for him. To fund my own, , interest in Drift drifting, 

Andrea: You were really, really interested in it.

You were ready to just do what you had to do to learn it, it sounds like. Yes. 

Leona: Yes. Correct. And, also find, in between the, the, the Drift car had, um, modifications to do because it just a stock, 180 SS you can't really drift well. So you have to do some modifications, like take the bucket seat, the modify your LSD uh, suspensions, you need to upgrade them, and then some power, uh, upgrades.

So this, require money and sponsorship. So, I work part-time as a tuition teacher and I teach, at people's house, I teach their children some mathematics science, some languages just [00:09:00] to fund my, drifting hobby at that time. 

Andrea: You were really motivated. 

Leona: Yeah, I was really motivated.

This, was in 2006. Okay. So, I actually went into many, activities which is motor sport related and, try to gain experience. My mentor, he said, you practice donut and figure eight is not enough. You need to go on the track and drift as well. You come into, uh, like attend the drift events that he, uh, organized.

And I participate as a participant and I was like, alright, I'll, I'll bring my car over. And, while I do the participate as a competitor, I also learned a lot experience, uh, mistakes has been made and learn from there. Were you one 

Andrea: of the only women doing the drifting at that time in that situation?

Or were there other women? 

Leona: Uh, at that time? There was another lady, [00:10:00] also pretty active in, drifting at that time. But I was a new newcomer and, uh, I. Compete and learn. So we actually, me and the other drift lady, we actually did a TV show together and, ah, is this the 

Andrea: reality TV show or, uh, 

Leona: yes, yes.

It's a reality TV show or in Malaysia. It's some kind of like pin My Right or something related to that. Okay. Malaysian version. Yes. And after pimping your car, you had to compete with each other. Oh, and she warn me because, uh, I guess that title was like really, uh, first, first time learning drifting.

Yeah. So, yeah, that's quite 

Andrea: a, that's quite a lot. To suddenly learn it, be on the track and be in a TV show, reality TV show your life must have felt very strange, 

Leona: especially, yeah. Every happened like in one year. Yeah. So everything happened very fast. 

Andrea: So just to go back a little bit, like [00:11:00] where did you grow up and, what was growing up?

Like, did you have cars in your life what was it like growing up? 

Leona: , I'm from Malaysia. So Malaysia is a very hot country. And, it's a place in Stango or Kuala Lumpur, if you heard of it. Yes. Kuala Lumpur. Ah. And, uh, of course the type of cars I have is, uh, Nissan 180, sx.

Andrea: That was your first car. Your mom didn't, I think you grew up with your mom, right? Mostly. Yes. I grew up 

Leona: with my mom. , we have, five sisters,, siblings 

and my mom, she, yeah. Uh, when I was 16, uh, my dad passed away. So, uh, my mom take care of, us uh, five girls. Wow. So, um, 

Andrea: strong, strong woman. That's a very strong one. Yeah. Strong 

Leona: family. And, uh, so, for car, like buying a car would be very difficult.

 So I tried to convince her [00:12:00] that I'll get a secondhand car, it's much cheaper.

Andrea: She said, alright. I, yeah, of course I 

Leona: could. I'll get a budget for you. So she said, okay, your budget is around 40,000. Ringgit. Okay. We try to get a car within that budget. And I said, okay. So yeah, I bought the Nissan 180 at 40,000, Ringgit. And, after that, uh, whatever extra cost it's on my own.

So I never buckle on any other modification money and that's, 

Andrea: It's great your mom was supporting it. Yeah, 

Leona: she's pretty supportive. She tells me like, if you wanna do something, just, do it all your heart.

I never give up. And also, do something extraordinary. So that's why, being a female, female in a male dominated world, world is something extraordinary. And I find this is a great way to, promote that, you know, uh, females can be just as good as guys as well [00:13:00] in this, motor spots.

 You've 

Andrea: definitely shown that. And it sounds like you've had support from men and women and a strong woman in your life teaching you that you can do it. Have you also encountered people who didn't believe you could do, you could drive a car this way or drift? 

Or who just think you're a beautiful woman and don't even know that you're a driver. 

Leona: Yeah. That, that happens, uh, pretty a lot of times. Uh, especially like the prank video that I did in 2011. Mm-hmm. 

Andrea: The one where you pretend like you're an associate selling a car. 

Leona: Yeah. That's the second episode.

Oh, that's the second 

Andrea: episode. Okay. The first episode. 

Leona: First episode, I dressed up as a student and I actually, , learn how to drive like a learner. And the teacher 

Andrea: didn't know that. Oh, like a driving school, right? Yeah. 

Leona: And the teacher didn't know I was actually a drift car racer. [00:14:00] And the moment they said, go, I kept stalling the car.

It was like, I act as if I really dunno how to drive the car. And then like when they said, put the signal like your blinkers, and instead of put the wiper on, so just to annoy them. 

Andrea: Oh, that's funny.

Leona: And then when the the lady she said, go faster. That's when. I go all the way and like drift around and they scream top of their lungs.

That was a really funny video. They didn't really, they didn't know that it was gonna happen. I had a big laugh after the video posted and, I was surprised that the video, shot up so big and, got into the international news and everything. Yeah, 

Andrea: it was on TV a lot, 

Leona: wasn't it?

Yeah. Yeah, it was crazy. 

Andrea: Someone visiting Malaysia told me that it was everywhere. Everyone was watching it. Oh, 

Leona: that's cool. [00:15:00] Yeah. And, then the second episode, which is the sales one that you saw? Okay, so yeah, that one was, partner with maxmen TV and also Mitsubishi Malaysia.

So yeah, they asked me to, As a sales lady and try to do some stunts with a pickup truck. Yeah. Great, great. Scared and annoyed them as well. Yeah. Especially one of the very mean guy. He said, this is the man's car. And I was like, no, this not man's car. And I proved him wrong. Yeah, you did.

Yeah. I like to do that. Yeah. 

Andrea: You're a good actress actually. Have you ever thought about being an actress in other ways too? Uh, 

Leona: yeah. I try. I mean, I, I try to do a bit of, uh, videos as well. Mm-hmm. And, uh, TikTok, but I did. I did, uh, get into some movies, but unfortunately it's at the back of the behind the scenes as the stunt driver.

Okay. So I actually do stunt driving [00:16:00] for some other, I see other actresses.

Andrea: Do you think there's any kind of performance that goes into driving? Do you feel like you're, you're performing, like you're taking on a different kind of personality when you drive? Or does it feel Yeah, yeah, yeah. 

Leona: Yeah. I, I do because, every time, I go into the car, it is a different personality.

I,, I suddenly feel like, I'm like, , Clark Kent, Superman. Yeah. Suddenly I, I'm able to do lots of stunts. Then the moment I come home from the car, I'm like, this, little girl. Yeah. 

Andrea: Yeah. I've seen that in the press a lot. People say, you're so gentle and sweet, and then you get behind the car and you're so tough and such a competitor.

Yeah. I feel 

Leona: that, maybe it's like an imposter syndrome the moment I get outta the car. Like totally different person. 

Andrea: Yeah. Do you think it's like the car gives you extra superpowers too though, right? Because somehow you must be a natural driver 'cause you learned in three hours things that people [00:17:00] can't learn their whole life.

So you must have some natural thing. But also when you get in the car, does it feel like you get an extension a new body, sort of like the car is part of you? 

Leona: Yeah, probably. Yeah. 

Andrea: Like transformer or something. Yeah, exactly. Exactly. Became 

Leona: a robot. I think so.

 I feel like, it makes me, makes me more confident when I, and I wear, all my safety gear, the racing suits and my helmet especially. When you wear the helmet on you, you're not, you don't really know it's a boy or girl. Mm-hmm. So you just have like a different feeling and 

Andrea: That's a good point. Do whatever 

Leona: you wanna do. And the 

Andrea: people, yeah. It really is like, a little bit like becoming a superhero because you do put on Yeah. When you put on those clothes, it does change. Yeah. I can imagine. It feels, yeah. Yeah, yeah. I mean, even so like my, when we dress up, we feel different, so much less when put on all this gear and you have like, extra armor.

Leona: So like when my, [00:18:00] my my nephew, he came to watch one of my, drift performances. And he told his mom, my sister, and said, why does auntie look so different? And why does she look so cool apart from other days when I visit him? 

Andrea: And I, he just look normal. Right? Yeah. You're not wearing all your gear.

Yeah. Gosh. For him, you must really be like a hero. Your family must be really proud of you. Yeah. That's 

Leona: correct. And, besides drifting, I also do circuit racing and other type of motor sport. So actually drifting is the thing that in initiated my love for motor sport. But after, going into more, deeper into the motor sport, I feel like, , to try other type of, sports, especially circuit racing.

So I actually into, circuit racing and drift. Well, sprint. And, I went into drag and, these different type of motor sports to see, what is it like to be in a different type of motor sport. And [00:19:00] I find that in circuit racing, I also love this sport because, it's very, objective light because, compared to drifting, you have to see the judges, they like you or not very subjective stuff.

 Like the angle of your car, the smoke, the speed, how much modifications you spend on your car and all that. But for, circuit racing, it's very objective. If you pass, the finish line first, you are the winner. And some things like, you have the fastest lead in qualifying, you'll get poll some stuff like that.

That's very, quantitative. Yeah. I guess it's satisfying. , yes. And so right now I'm actually more into circuit racing rather than drifting. So, but for performance, like drift, drift performance, like, doing videos and also, taxi rides, I still do drifting as a performance sport.

Andrea: I saw somewhere you're the fastest. You were at some point the fastest female driver in Malaysia, Yeah. 

Leona: Uh, fastest female driver in Malaysia because, [00:20:00] uh, I actually race in Sepang. I did, this is our only GP, uh, Grand Prix track in Malaysia. And yeah, we, we did, uh, lots of competitions there, like the Malaysian Championship Series, and we raised, different of cars as well in the tour category.

I was also r acing along with, other female in other cars. Mm-hmm. And yeah, I actually, won in the overall championship in 2021. 

Andrea: I saw that. And you were in the GT INT 2022, right? The Asia World Series. Yeah. But Covid messed everything up, I guess. 

Leona: Yes, yes. In 2020 we were

 eager to go into the GT World Challenge Asia at that time. And, we even bought the car and prepared everything we were ready to start the race, for the following month. And then Covid came and, everything was postponed and we were [00:21:00] very devastated. Must have been so hard.

 Our sponsors were a bit upset and Yeah, they, they, we couldn't answer.

Mm-hmm. So they told us to sell the car and we sold the car. So it was very unfortunate

Andrea: that's really hard. I guess your mom's advice applies in the good times and the bad times,

you just have to keep going.

Leona: Yeah. Never give up. So I've already been in this for more than I think eight, 17 to 18 years. So that's a long time. I've been through a lot. Yeah. 

Andrea: I guess you couldn't have expected that when you were a little girl, or did you? 

Leona: No, when I was little girl, I was still playing Legos and Oh, Legos, um, board games.

Yeah. And also Barbie dolls. Okay. Everything. Yeah. When high school came, that's when I really liked cars , and I got my driving license. I thought, i'll get a used secondhand sports car to drive [00:22:00] around. It's just a naughty girl driving a sports car. 

Andrea: That's wonderful. I love it. ,I have to ask, when you're doing the races, that feeling of speed, how does that feel? Because it's so powerful that you just wanna keep going.

There's something about it that you just don't wanna stop. , does it feel like that to you, or do you feel very in control and disciplined when you're hitting those really high speeds? 

Leona: During going really high speeds? I feel like, um it's a bit nerve wracking.

Especially, uh, when you're looking at the meter and, and it's going really fast, but I just breathe harder, like to calm you calm and, just focus on where's the breaking point, because you need to focus on doing your homework at the breaking point when you have to downshift and take the corner and try to balance the car out off the exit, to go for the next turn.

So yeah, you keep focusing and don't really, get nervous. Only when there's like, cars beside you, be more [00:23:00] careful. So you try to do the less mistakes as possible. That's what we usually do when we are racing. Yeah. Side by side with block cars. So I guess 

Andrea: you, there's no time to think about anything.

You're just very much in the present moment, right? When you're racing or, or, 

Leona: yeah. Yes, exactly. Present moment and after the race. And they say, oh, back then that turn, what were you doing now? I'm like, huh? 

Andrea: What turn? It's like a dream, I guess. Yeah. 

Leona: Completely forgot about that. Yeah. Just keep going. Don't look at the past.

Andrea: You're so high energy. You just, you can't think about what you just did because you gotta be in the moment or you might make a mistake, so. Exactly. Yes. Has that, has that had any influence on your everyday life? Do you find, are you able to stay more present in everyday life after that?

Or is it the opposite?

Leona: I, I really feel like I'm very present. Keep moving forward person. Mm-hmm. Yeah. So that, then [00:24:00] don't, don't dwell at the back, like whatever happened. It's just a memory behind it passed. I can't really remember much of the challenges that I had because it was really tough. Maybe some brief.

I fell down, broke my leg. I still recover and stuff like that. It all happened in China. 

Andrea: Oh no. 

Leona: What I go China quite frequently, so I did, um, reality show in China and Oh, wow. And actually, I, I did some obstacles, uh, climbing up, then I jumped down and I fell. Wow. And my knee broke the ACL

Andrea: oh, I, I know that feeling. I that's an awful feeling. 

Leona: Yeah. So I also suffered that and when the, how to say, because it's very vague right now, because it's vague. 

Andrea: Yeah. Yeah, you don't want, you don't wanna remember that there's no need.

Exactly. 

Leona: But they [00:25:00] actually had a recording of the whole process in YouTube. Oh gosh. Wow. And on tv. So, mean, I watch it back. I'm like, did that really happen? 

Andrea: I was like, I can't remember.

Leona: Did until the fact that the cameraman even followed me into the x-ray.

X-ray machine area. And then the nurse had to like, show him off. Like, no, no, you're not allowed. Is this X-rays? Like, you know, prohibited. 

Andrea: Wow. Oh, that's good. Tv. Too bad for you though. It must've been hard, but you're famous in so many different ways, famous for driving, but also, in these interesting videos like, we were talking about where you're fooling the guys that would be interesting no matter what.

And then also in China, on reality tv, is it hard to keep track of all these different public personas that you have? Or does it feel like one, one thing? I feel, uh, 

Leona: It's like a big puzzle. Pieces or pieces. Um, Appear and you just have to match them together. Um, yeah, that's a good way to [00:26:00] say it.

One day, one day, when I look back, like maybe I do a biography and I'm like, oh yeah, this all happened. 

Andrea: That's a good idea to write an autobiography, but then you have to remember everything. It might be a little hard. It might be painful. 

Leona: Yeah. It's like today when we're having this talk, then I have to remember all this things.

Yeah. Yeah. I have 

Andrea: to check back what happened year? What happened that year? It's so much, 

Leona: yeah. 18 years. I was like, oh, that 18 years already. That's really 

Andrea: Wow. Time moves. And it happened so fast for you because, , you were just following your obsession and then suddenly you're on TV and then you're racing.

 It sounds like one thing after the other. There's not a lot of time to pause and think 

Leona: about. Just before, just before the covid happened, I was really hectic life. Hectic life, like traveling here and there like China, and then Korea and then Thailand and where else , Vietnam, as well, so it was hectic.

One time I, I even had [00:27:00] to, , fly from, Korea, had a race and come back. It was a bit pretty cold there. Then I came back and then I had to go into a jungle because of the bonne safari Oh my gosh.

Program they had for me. So I didn't even go back home. We just, I told my sister, can you bring my luggage back to the airport? My luggages at the airport, they like, okay, I'll just change suitcases in the airport. Yeah. Gosh. And then can you bring this, uh, backpack because we're going into the jungle.

And then she's like, okay, okay. So he was very helpful. She brought everything for me and we just swap over. And then I said, okay, bye. And then I flew to another country 

Andrea: and going into the jungle. How did you, like, how do you have some kind of, um, secret to being able to do this? I mean, that's a lot of energy.

Do you, do you like have a special diet or you drink a lot of water? Or what do you, are you just naturally have the adrenaline? 

Leona: Seriously? I, I, I think, uh, maybe, uh, the, [00:28:00] the food that I eat Yeah. Is very healthy. I, I don't really eat in, in excess. Whatever I eat is very in moderation. Like if rice, I, I try to eat like only half a portion of, uh, a bowl, half a bowl of rice, but eat more proteins, meat and all that. And for supplements, um, I'm not sure if you heard before, it's a Reishi

 some kind of a mushroom that, you know, improve your immunity, boost your immune system kind of thing. Yeah. So I eat that every day. Maybe that helps. 

Andrea: Yeah, maybe It must, it must. I mean, because it's very hard to do that. Just traveling can be so hard. Travel much less when you have to perform, it's almost like you're a rock star or something going around the world, you know?

Leona: Yeah. Until 2019, everything was really hectic. Then moment the covid hit. Every day I was staying at home. I, I was really bored. 

Andrea: Yeah. That must have been hard too, to suddenly stop. [00:29:00] Yeah. Yeah. 

Leona: And gaming instead, , I play a lot of, stimulator games just to, , stay, to be active.

Yeah. Kick up tape in, driving, you really need all your muscle memory, so. Mm-hmm. It's very important to train every time. So, yeah, I still do simulator. I think, uh, simulator racing , is the future. And I also invested, quite a lot into my gaming setup. 

Andrea: Yeah, it's huge already. The sim racing, there's so many people that just come just to watch. You know, real racing and sim racing, but you also know the audiences. Is there a difference, in why you think people find it so fascinating? 

Leona: I feel the audience still like the real life one. Real action. One more because you can hear, you can actually feel the physical car and all, but for virtual it's mostly for the driver himself. He enjoys the driving and mm-hmm. And all the techniques that you really use in the stimulator [00:30:00] in, because you are driving alone, so you don't really have a team to help you to fix the car, all such things.

 So you yourself have to do a lot of things. While racing you, the plan, your strategies and everything.. In racing, there's a strategy for you. He'll tell you, okay, now you box. Now you pick in and then you just drive, you just keep going until you, okay, switch driver, and then you come into the pit and then you just get in the car.

Oh yeah. But in same reason, you have to keep thinking what's the next strategy and when. Mm-hmm. Do you need to peak and all that while you're driving because you need to calculate your fuel level. Everything that should be done by the engineer. 

Andrea: So the sim racing, helps you perform and keeps you in shape.

 That seems un strange, right? That it's all virtual, but actually it helps you on the track in real life. 

Leona: Yeah, it does. It does because, before I go to a race, I'm not sure of this track, let's say is, Buriram Thailand Track. I've never been there, so it's very good for me to [00:31:00] visualize where the corners are.

Virtually before I go there. And it saves a lot of time. Mm-hmm. Because you need a lot of time to adapt to a new track, so it saves out a lot of time so that oh yeah, I know the next corner is the left and then the right. Know that, and your breaking points, you can actually use exactly the same breaking point as in the racing, in the simulator.

So I think it's a very good way to train. For, for, you know, uh, racing to reality, uh, virtual to reality. Yeah. Really good. 

Andrea: Yeah. That's, it's really good. I can imagine just knowing the track itself would be so good for your, for your body and your mind to Yeah.

Get used to it. , and the, the 

Leona: first feedback, yeah. For the first feedback, you can actually tune it to a hundred percent. That's really tiring for if you are going for training purposes, then yeah, you can. Force feedback on the steering wheel to be hundred percent, but if you're going for endurance on a percent, it's really tiring.

So I, I really feel it, [00:32:00] like 50%.

Andrea: For me. Do you have to actually do training like, um, at the gym, like exercises and stuff to keep your body, strong for the car, or is it just the racing itself conditions your body? Um, 

Leona: both. Yeah. For the gym, , I do join the gym and, and also, uh, train more to the neck because Yeah.

The of neck and, and hand exercises. So yeah, I try to get my workouts, , with a rubber band. They have that resistant band , these really big ones, right? Yeah. Thick bands and, you know. Mm-hmm. Put the head around the bed and you start exercising. Oh yeah. I dunno if it, I didn't record that because it looks really ugly.

Andrea: Yeah, I get it.

So you're really, um, you have a lot of fans and a lot of people know you and you've been on tv and I [00:33:00] guess I wonder what's that like in Malaysia? How does the country see motorsports or drifting or all of this? It seems to play a very big role there.

I just wonder from your perspective, what it feels like 

Leona: motorsports in Malaysia is, , growing because, the new tracks coming in, this year especially, like I see a lot of new go-kart tracks opening everywhere. So I can see that, oh, motor sports is really gaining , some attention. Mm-hmm. And starting from last year when the moment they opened back after covid, and I see a lot of new female racing drivers, , starting to appear.

 And I see that, yeah, this is great for the, female side of the motor sport. Before that it was only a handful of girls that is in this motor sport. So I find that the more the ladies join them, there's more categories available so that,, ladies can have their own category for them to [00:34:00] participate as well.

And I myself have actually organized events for the ladies last year and,, it's a very astounding number, uh, managed to get, um, hundred 50. Um, to join in 3 rounds. So every round there's, 50 girls joining. 

Uh, after the covid happened, a lot of girls are like, oh, I want to try go-kart. And yeah. Now there are lots of those ingredients. And for audience wise, I feel a bit compared to China, let's say, because I go China quite often. China has more audience than, Malaysia because I feel it is the heat here is too hot and people don't really wanna watch.

 Malaysia is super hot right now. It's around 40 degrees. It's really hot outside. Oh 

Andrea: That's hot. Hard to move. Hard to be outside. 

Leona: Imagine in the track and the grandstands, and some of our grandstands don't even have shade. 

Andrea: It's too hot, too. That's hard for, 

Leona: [00:35:00] for a normal human to stand under.

Yeah. But, if I went to China, China and I went to see the racing, the weather there is much cooler. So a lot of people will love to bring their families then out for an outing and watch, motor sports in this type of much cooling environment. So more, more happening in China than in Malaysia.

Andrea: Is it hard to switch countries? Or does it feel like it brings different people together in the same way? Is for you and even in Malaysia with all the different kinds of people, does it bring people together or does it, do you find it hard switching all to these different countries in different, different rules, different things, 

yeah, I 

Leona: find it, a bit hard because of language wise. When I go, to China, I have to speak in Mandarin and also, they don't really speak English. Most of them don't really speak English, so I have to convert, change my [00:36:00] channel in my brain to yeah. To them training.

Mm-hmm. That's a lot. 

Andrea: And, uh, 

Leona: yeah, it's a lot. And they, but when they, they come to Malaysia, I very happy and I bring them around, so it's good, good way to, you know, exchange our culture around. 

Andrea: Yeah. You're like a global ambassador. 

Leona: Yeah. Really happy when I get to travel and also bring friends back to Malaysia.

Andrea: Yeah, that's a great thing to do. How do you think it compares to, like the States and here and Europe, where, of course everyone's crazy about Formula One, do you find, is there, is there any big difference that people here wouldn't know about, or I don't know?

What does it feel like for you? 

Leona: I find that, um, Formula One in overseas is such a big event. And, especially after they did the Netflix show. Yeah. It was very good to find out why they like to be [00:37:00] in their shoes and all the drama. 

 Overseas is still more, I mean, like Europe and the States, they are so much more advanced.

Sport and organizing events than, that in Malaysia, 

Andrea: maybe 'cause of the weather, like you said, it's easier. 

Leona: Our last Formula one, I think was in 2000 or something, and then they stopped Formula One in Malaysia already. Oh, right. And I was a bit devastated. Yeah, I bet. , it's pretty hard because, according to the Malaysia side, it's very expensive to, pay for the royalty.

Oh yeah, of course. Bring the Formula One over in Malaysia. But I see a lot of YouTubers, they like to mention that they really like, the fun track in the. And [00:38:00] they would love to come to Malaysia to watch the F 1 as a spectator, watch a few of the YouTubers, they really wanted, , to come back into the calendar.

That would 

Andrea: be good. You went to Formula One, didn't you? In Shanghai? Yeah, 

Leona: I did. I did. Okay. And yeah, the, that's what makes me amazed is the weather. Yeah. Especially there, it was so cooling everyone was having, sitting in the grand with their families and everything. It was such a nice weather.

Malaysia really 

Andrea: melting and the humidity 

Leona: here so bad and Yeah. In, in the middle of nowhere, like in the middle of the race, it could have a super storm. 

Andrea: Oh yeah, that's true. It's volatile. I don't even know. storms are 

Leona: is crazy. Song suddenly appears outta nowhere and then it goes away.

That's for one hour and then [00:39:00] No, we're all, 

Andrea: Do you find it easier to drive when you're in China or when you're in somewhere else where it's not so hot? Does it make a difference inside the car for you? 

Leona: Yes, definitely. You feel more comfortable. You, you don't sweat so much.

There's a time when I was actually racing in a caterham and my shoe, my racing shoe, like actually melted. What 

Andrea: are you serious? It melted like the bottom 

Leona: or the bottom. The glue. It was so hot inside the, the cockpit. Wow. That the shoe opened up. And then when I hop out of the car, I hop out then the, the shoe, like the bottom part of the shoe and the, uh, a light.

And then I open my shoe. I was like, why is my, the like off, off from the shoes? [00:40:00] 

Andrea: Oh, that's funny. But it must've been awful trying to drive like that. Yeah, 

Leona: it was really hot. Lucky. Um, we were wearing like those FIA socks, so it's very important to wear FIA, fire retardant underwear. Yeah. In that case it really helped because if not, I think I, I would've burned to, 

Andrea: yeah, it would probably would've gotten burned.

Leona: I didn't have any accidents relating to fire. Uh, accident crash. So yeah, I have been hit by cars or I accidentally hit someone then Yeah, it happened a lot. 

Andrea: Yeah. And I know you probably don't remember 'cause you just move on, but, do you remember, the first time it was, did that happened?

Did it make you think maybe I should stop racing? Or were you just like, okay, that's just part of it? Just go. 

Leona: Yeah. The first time was very devastating. Uh, it cost, um my 180. Yeah. But I [00:41:00] spent so much money on, oh no. Modify my ones. And then the moment I put the hand brake too hard or something and then I didn't release it so the car just slide and hit the wall.

Oh, no. Then my car was a very very damaged. So I was like, really heart pain and I was. I continue or not, this is really tough time. , because I spent so much money on it, on this car and all that. Yeah. But, , I didn't give up and, , I, I tried other motor sports.

Okay.

Andrea: Switch to something new. 

Leona: Yeah. I switched to circuit racing and see how it goes there. And then, I also did some accidents, but I, it didn't feel as pain as the first time actually. Mm-hmm. Yeah. So 

Andrea: I think, yeah, you put so much into your car and then it so quickly, it's like all of that is gone.

It's, oh, it's hard. 

Leona: Yes. Yes. It it still hurts. 

Andrea: Yeah. I even hurt a bit a bit. 

Leona: Then. Uh, 

[00:42:00] I feel like, um, renting cars is now more affordable and you don't get so 

Andrea: attached emotional. Yes. 

Leona: Yeah,. Emotional attached. Uh, so rent nowadays, I basically rent pre-prepared race car.

. And find sponsors. And find sponsors to fund the cost of renting the car instead. So whatever damages happen, is insured by the, we buy insurance as well, so the insurance will pay for the damages. And it's not that hard attachment, emotional attachment, not that pain anymore. Yeah. That's 

Andrea: good. I mean, it's easier, but in a way too, I guess there's something about being attached to the car that makes it a different experience too.

I just wanted to ask you, about being a woman in this profession and being kind of a role model and now I saw there are a lot of young women who are starting to try to race in Malaysia and stuff, and I just wonder how that feels for you.

 [00:43:00] Does it come naturally? Sounds like your mom was a natural mentor, but how does it feel to think of yourself as like a, a mentor, a role model, or representing women? It's a big thing. 

Leona: I, I feel like, it's great that, now got more ladies into motor sports. That's what we want. That's why I wanted in initially, because, initially getting into motor sports as a female is a very tough, because of all the skepticism and, male dominated world is, is pretty tough.

 You get all these,, people talking, talking down on you, so 

Andrea: yeah, that's hard. 

Leona: Yeah. So right now we, when I see got more girls coming up, I, I actually help them out. They have any questions. They, they can, privately chat with me. We have a, group. And then, I mean, during the Saudi ladies cup that I organized, they all got my contact and then they private messaged me and they asked me advice on how to [00:44:00] get sponsors or, , is my proposal okay for, you know, approaching sponsors And then, sometimes I even loan them my equipment.

Wow. Because they can't afford, their safety equipment. So I have racing suits that I lend them to use for certain races that they are participating. Like my rib protector, I'm not using it this weekend. Wow. So I, I've probably, pass it to them and then they return it to me. So, Initially I also had to suffer, starting I had to buy my own equipment and all, it costs a lot money.

So I'm helping up the, the community, especially the ladies there. Hopefully they appreciate my help. I'm sure do support they do. 

Andrea: It sounds like you're big inspiration for a lot of people. Yeah.

Leona: Some of them, yeah, from go-kart. Racing. Mm-hmm. I've seen, uh, after the event that I, organized that they make new friends and they are now, teammates.

They make their own team, and now they see me as [00:45:00] a mentor uh, someone that either they idle kind of, and 

Andrea: yeah. Yeah. Idealize, yeah. Like me one day. And 

Leona: also, you know, uh, maybe they, they hope to compete 

Andrea: with me and Yeah, of course, side by side with, 

Leona: and yeah.

That, that's their, their ultimate dream. So they did tell me that, and I wish them, all the best. Mm-hmm. And I'm not afraid to give, advice to them as much as I can, as long as I'm able to, I, I will help 

Andrea: them. That's wonderful. You had to do a lot of it by yourself, so it's great that you now help support this community 

yeah. I, I 

Leona: do have, appreciate my manager. His name is Akina. He really know supports, uh, a lot. He give a lot of, mentorship and also, he manages all my, motor sport activities. So he is, very helpful and he not only, help me out. He helps whatever ladies as well. He's a very helpful guy and, and he sees that, females really need, need [00:46:00] support in this.

That's why, me and him, are very good business partners and that's why we work together with the all. The track owner mm-hmm. The go-kart track owner, and we created the, the first, Malaysian, uh all female,, go-kart event in Malaysia for them to step up the ladies to improve in and see the, where they benchmarked themself as a lady community.

And from there they can, go into, go-kart more professionally. So I'm really hoping they, they get into,, the international level as well. Hmm

Andrea: that's such meaningful work. It's, really matters for the future and it must be rewarding, but it also must take a lot of energy.

Leona: I I find motivation.

It is like as long as I am able to help people, I will help. 

I'm, I feel [00:47:00] like there's is not never give up kind of thing. So I, still, trying to go into motor sports. I'm not, not,, retired yet. So you're still racing? Yeah. Racing. You're still the competition to the 

Andrea: people you're helping.

Leona: Yeah. And my aim right now is to, go into gt GT level. Mm-hmm. So, I, I kind of failed in 2020 where I couldn't 

Andrea: get into race. Wow. It's covid too, but Yeah. Yeah. 

Leona: But I still am trying my best in, get into the race and the, a race in, the Asian level. So that's my motivation right now to get into the GT, level races in the Asian, arena.

 Every day I'm sending out proposals to sponsors and hopefully, , get the good news soon so that I can race in the GT races in the near 

Andrea: future. Mm. That's exciting. It [00:48:00] sounds like you're also competitive and it helps you to set a goal and then you wanna like win, you wanna succeed.

Yeah, I wanna succeed 

Leona: and get into, the race. Especially in GT because GT is really hard and . It costs a lot of money. Yeah. So, 

Andrea: yeah. Must take definitely big sponsors. I guess before we go, I just wonder if you've had any experience or you've thought at all about electric cars or electric, Anything like electric.

Do you, do you see any change in Malaysia? Are people talking about that, or in your own work, have you ever tried to drive an electric car or, 

Leona: uh, yes. Um, I, I've been to China a lot and, and I see that they have a lot electric cars, there and, and uh, actually back in 2015, I already experienced a electric rally car, and I was a bit surprised that, yeah, that's really, yeah.

That type of [00:49:00] thing. Way back in two, 2015, they already have in g uh, electric rally cars available. Oh, wow. Yeah. 

Andrea: And in China, 

Leona: or in China, but Malaysia for motor sports wise, there's, there's nothing, uh, yet. I never haven't heard of anything yet, or relating to Motorsports EV but right now in, in Malaysia for EV cars, there's, they're starting to gain, uh, some traction here because of, uh, there's some subsidies for, purchasing ev cars in Malaysia right now.

And so, yeah, the more and more EV cars, uh, I see available on the road and, the charging wise is a bit difficult. In Malaysia, there's not enough charging stations. Yeah. So this year and, from this year, they have, increased the numbers of charging. And I also, worked together, previously with, Shell and, uh, it actually did, [00:50:00] uh, kind of a convoy drive up to.

From the north, the south part of south part of Malaysia, which is jojo. And all the way to, uh, ipo, which is a bit northern to, with our, uh, with their Porsche taken. Oh, wow. So they, they're trying to, uh, tell that there is actually a lot of charging stations all the way up north. 

Andrea: So you actually drove that, that route and charged?

Yeah. Oh, okay. What was that like? Was that, that must've been kind of hard to get to the station in time and 

Leona: Yeah. There's less anxiety right now. Last time they have anxiety of, uh, no, not enough power. Mm-hmm. But because of the, there's small stations along the highway right now, so we just have to stop and charge for half an hour.

They the high speed charging stations there by Shell. And then, we can move on after half an hour and then we can go to the next stop [00:51:00] and the next stop. Wow. But still have. Wait, that, that half an hour? 

Andrea: Yeah. That must have been hard for you. You're ready to go. 

Leona: Yeah. That they're getting the anxiety of, uh, uh, it's not enough, but three hour in your car.

Yeah. 

Andrea: Yeah. I've, a lot of people talk about that, about how they, it's just, yeah, are you really gonna get to the right spot in the right time? Because it's still such a new thing. 

Leona: Yeah. And actually tomorrow, on next week, I'm actually gonna do another, uh, convoy with the Porsche again.

Oh, really? Wow. Yes. Something similar again, which is from the More South now to the most north of Malaysia. 

Andrea: Oh, that's cool. Is there any way to follow you or anything while you do that? Is it gonna be on your, 

Leona: uh, yeah. Usually I will post some Instagram stories follow on my Instagram about ev my EV journey.

Andrea: Do you like driving EVs? It must be a big change from what you're used to. You can't really drift in an [00:52:00] EV yet. It's 

Leona: different. The Porsche take is really powerful when Yeah, even you ask, we only could actually, uh, drive fast the moment we pass the toll plaza.

Oh man. Just wait a bit and then after that it's traffic jam all the way, way. No. So the moment you drive from the plaza toll all the way to the next, uh, 2200 meters, you feel that that torque? Oh yeah. Yeah. Something really fun. 

Andrea: Yeah, they're really powerful. Have you got, have you been able to drive one on the track like a Porsche, like full on the track?

No. No, we haven't. Probably they should let you do that. 

Leona: Maybe next time I ask the Porsche to do that. 

Andrea: Yeah, that might be cool just to see how, but yeah, I guess you'd have to be careful too, because it's a whole new thing. Right? 

Leona: I think, ev, is the future. Yeah. I even, uh, I have installed a EV charger in my house, but I have yet, [00:53:00] It pricey.

I'm hoping that more cheaper av cars available in Malaysia, then I'll get one. Mm-hmm. It'll 

Andrea: probably happen fast when it happens. So you're ready? You already got the charger. Yeah, I'm really ready. That's great. Well, I've just love talking to you. I guess just the last question, this is called Forever Motoring, so, and we're talking about mm-hmm.

 Motoring is changing, but we've also been talking about how important it's been in your life now for half your life, , or the past 18 years. And so I just wondered what do you, what does it mean to you to think about the future and the past and the role that, that driving and drifting and motoring has played for you?

What do you think of when you think like forever motoring? 

Leona: I think for forever motoring means like you are forever driving, you're forever into this, , motor sports or into anything that's related to cars or bikes. And I feel like it's a, great concept that you, you created [00:54:00] and uh, that it's like you are forever learning.

So it's forever motoring. 

Andrea: That's great. That reminds me of your four Ds I read somewhere, I can't remember what they are now, but I think one is drive, so drive discipline, 

Leona: green drive 

Andrea: is the brain one more 

Leona: determination? Was it determination? Yeah, determination. Okay. Yeah. 

Andrea: Yeah. So yeah, that's like, um, Having the drive right.

Forever, finding the motivation in whatever way, even if it's electric or some hydrogen or whatever, whatever the future holds. So you embrace it all, huh? You're ready for it? Yeah. As 

Leona: a motor sport athlete, you know, I started off with drifting, but I wanted to learn all kinds of, uh, motor sports.

So I dabbled into all kinds, like, circuit racing, time attack, rally, uh, go-kart drag. I try everything Cool. Because I really love, , motoring , [00:55:00] is something I really love. And the sound of the engine,, the speed, the adrenaline when you drive fast. Yeah, I really, I really like it. And the way you mentioned the Forever Motor, I think the, best name ever.

Andrea: Well, thank you for all that you've done for women and for the sport, and just for being a good person and like staying positive and it means a lot. I think you, you spread a lot of good energy in the world, so that's also a way of forever motoring and being motivated. I really do think you, you're kind of like a global citizen or global ambassador for motoring, 

Leona: Thank you. 

Andrea: Well, thank you so much. I know it's already been an hour now, so I'm gonna let you go, but, it has been so good to talk to you and, I wish you the best of luck. I can't wait to see what you're gonna do next, so there's always something interesting from you.

Leona: Thank you. Thank you, Andrea. Thank you for Forever Motoring for inviting me I'm so happy to meet you and [00:56:00] I hope we can meet in person 

Andrea: next time. Yeah, that would be great. I would love that. Let's try and do that sometime.