rpm.espn.com: Alex Yoong

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Tuesday, February 12
Updated: February 16, 8:58 AM ET

Alex Yoong
ESPN.com

Team: Minardi
Nationality: Malaysia

Alex Yoong
Yoong

STATS

Year
Rank
Wins
Poles
Podium
Best finish

2001 NA 0 0 0 16th, Japan

Career 0 0 0 16th, Japan (2001)

2001 Recap
The Good: Young Yoong made his Formula One debut in 2001 for backmarkers Minardi. In three events -- Italian Grand Prix, U.S. Grand Prix and Japanese Grand Prix -- Yoong scored no points, but he did manage to keep out of trouble and not cause any problems on the track.

Yoong was greatly helped in snagging his ride by being able to bring with him sizeable sponsorship from Malaysia.

Season Highlight: Yoong, who replaced Brazilian Tarso Marques at Minardi, made his F1 debut at Italy. The young Malaysian, 24, became the first driver from his country to compete in a grand prix.

The Bad: Yoong qualified at the back of the grid for each of his three events in 2001. He managed to finish just one of his three races -- a 16th-place showing in the season finale in Japan.

Season Lowlight: In Yoong's debut at Monza, his car was hit by Jenson Button's front wing. Yoong then retired eight laps from the end when he spun into the gravel trap.

Alex Yoong
Last year, Alex Yoong became the first Malaysian ever to compete in Formula One.

Key Stat: Besides being the first Malaysian to run F1, Yoong is also the first non-Japanese Asian to compete on the circuit.

2002 Outlook
What needs to be done: Remarkably, Yoong will actually be the most experienced driver at Minardi. The youngster will be joined by rookie Mark Webber in 2002. The two will need to communicate well in order to lessen the learning curve.

Minardi will have a new chassis and new Asiatech engine this year. But, those improvements won't likely make up for Minardi's lack of performance on the track.

Prediction: Minardi's boss, Paul Stoddart, says his team will be putting drivers in the top-10 in 2002. That's doubtful. Speed and durability should improve some this season, but that won't be enough to vault very high in the standings. A top-10 finish or two could happen this season, but those performances will hardly be regular.

Before Yoong can concentrate on moving up the grid, he'll have to overcome his teammate Webber, a former Formula 3000 star who has experience on many F1 tracks.

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