The Malaysian Girl Drifter Leona Chin

Image credit: Leona Chin

Leona Chin gained internet fame from the prank video of a pro racer ‘playing dumb’ before her mad skills was unleashed on unsuspecting driving instructors. The video has gained 39 million views to date and ‘Fast and Furious’ fans would be drooling over her rubber-burning skills . This professional motorsport athlete from Malaysia gives us insight on her passion and journey on this thrilling activity.


How It All Began

Leona explained that she loved cars ever since she was in high school and got herself a Nissan 180sx during college. She met a friend who offered to teach her how to drift in return for some website designing and volunteering at events. He would teach her one to one drift basics after his events were over. “After I learned the basics, eventually I took part his drift events to gain experience and knowledge. I learned to change my own tires and learn the basics of car modifications. After several track days and competition events, I was approached by a energy drink team and joined a female driver search to race in endurance race. I was the fastest lady in the team and races in the endurance race namely Merdeka Millennium 12 hrs Endurance Race and Sepang 1000km Endurance Race. After that I left the team and went on my own to secure sponsors to race in other types of motorsports such as Gymkhana, Autocross, Time Attack, Circuit Racing, Go Kart, Drag Racing, and Rally.” Leona told TallyPress.

Image credit: Leona Chin
Image credit: Leona Chin

The Other Side of Leona Chin

Leona Chin is the ultimate girl-next-door spiced with spunk, speed and thrill. Having mastered what is predominantly considered a man’s turf and sport, Leona brazenly breaks down stereotypes by pushing the boundaries of women’s strength, limit and endurance. Don’t let her need for speed and thrill seeking personality intimidate you, as Leona takes pleasure in watching Korean drama while drinking Milo Dinosaur and perhaps eating Butter Milk Chicken.

Image credit: http://leona.kurazmotorsports.com
Image credit: http://leona.kurazmotorsports.com

The Highway of Drifting

She has many unforgettable events through out these 10 years. Being able to race in Japan with the help of my fans through crowdfunding and appearing in China TV show performing drift in front of with famous actor Jimmy Lin and competing with World Rally Champion Jari Matti Latvala face to face. However, the most unforgettable event so far was to able to meet and speak to one of my racing Idols Keiichi Tsuchiya also known as the drift king in person.

She was invited to many overseas events and the challenges faced was that she had not meet the legal requirements to race overseas due to her not having an international racing license and had to turn down a lot of opportunities overseas. Nonetheless, she learned throughout these 10 years that persistence and the right attitude and full commitment is very important in any sports that you do. Always thank the people and sponsors who have helped you throughout these years and always stay humble.

Her plan in the next 5 years to race in to compete in Asian level race series and says “10,000 hours rule of “deliberate practice” are needed to become world-class in any field.”

Image credit: Leona Chin
Image credit: Leona Chin

Achievements

Few of her notable achievements include:

2015 – Caterham Motorsports Championship Round 2(Sepang Circuit) Supersport, 1st place

2015 –  Caterham Motorsports Championship Supersport 2nd place overall Championship

2015 – WebTVAsia – Freaking Awesome Video of the year 2015 ( Fast & Furious Nerd)

2014 – Southern Thailand Gymkhana X (Songkhla)Cat F Ladies, Champion


Leona Chin in Action

Image credit: Leona Chin
Image credit: Leona Chin
Image credit: Leona Chin
Image credit: Leona Chin
Image credit: Leona Chin
Image credit: Leona Chin
Image credit: Leona Chin
Image credit: Leona Chin
Image credit: Leona Chin
Image credit: Leona Chin
Image credit: Leona Chin
Image credit: Leona Chin

Drive safe on the roads, leave racing off the streets.

— Leona Chin


Visit Leona Chin’s official website: http://leona.kurazmotorsports.com