“HOBBIEST RIDER” RUNNING IN A PROFESSIONAL SERIES – TEO YEW JOE
“I don’t think I am a professional rider but it’s more like a hobby for me.. So, ‘hobbiest rider’ who races in professional series. That’s how I will portray this,” says Teo Yew Joe of Savitar Racing Team currently competes in MSBK1000 class in The Malaysia Superbike Championship 2023 season.
Teo who stepped into the two-wheel scene a decade ago picturised how limited the accessibility to the right path of motorbike racing was back then. Grew up in a Chinese community where exposure to two-wheel was lesser compared to four-wheel, Teo has reached almost 30 years old to express his love for motorbikes.
“Motorsports started for me at quite an early age, I think I grew up loving motorcycles from the days of Doohan nd Wayne Rainey, but being raised in a Chinese family you definitely not gonna race in motorcycles. I think the love for racing is in my blood, just don’t ask me how.It has been always there. I started with karts and understanding motorsports. Back then, it’s not like how it’s in Sepang nowadays. Now we have open track days where motorbikes are allowed to ride, you can pay like 100 bucks and you can ride your motorbikes at the track as much as you want.
“That’s how my early days engagement was and the accessibility to the sports itself was difficult. It is not like how it is now. The accessibility of the ability to move forward is always limited to the accessibility of the resources that worked for me. Anybody can buy a motorcycle.. anyone can.. You can watch Motogp, Asian GP or MSBK and want to go racing but we didn’t have the proper resources to know what we can do to achieve certain goals in motorsports.
“When I first started racing I was 30. It was in 2012 and I started with 600cc. That’s the exact time when Azlan Shah, Zamri Baba, and some other riders were on top. Thereafter, we had Kasma and KIP. I was 10 years behind them. They were world-class professional riders. They are fortunate to have the proper knowledge to be on the scene. We were more like backburners. So this is why it ends up as a hobby to many of us. We can just few seconds behind them but they are professional rider and we are semi-professionalist,” shared Teo
Teo who is in MSBK1000 A class at the moment once excelled as a top 3 rider in Malaysia of the same class in the year of 2016. After a huge break from the racing scene, now back in action, Teo strives to perform better.
“I was in A class of the 600cc category back in 2016 and I was the top 3 rider in Malaysia. Being in A class back then and now is totally different because there’s a big gap. Lots of personal issues and commitments made me take a break. Being able to know that now being older and being able to race professionally, encourages me to work harder. Of course, I am far away from where I should be in fighting for the podium but you want to go there, do something, learn something, and figure out how to make a comeback. It’s more difficult now but that’s about the challenges, Let’s wake up and do it!
“The goal now is to retain more knowledge so we can be more professional. But, at the end of the day, every sport starts as a recreation and most importantly you enjoy it. For the next round, personally, it is not about position but more on quality racing time against our Malaysian top professional riders and to also prove the capability of the semi-professionalist riders.
“We have to go back to work on Monday and work till Friday, at the same time, figure out the team, how the machines have to behave and there is so much to do. So, my goal is to prove in this 2023, there are people like me able to in the same league as the professional riders.”
The 41-year-old is currently at 4th place in MSBK1000 A class with 24 points on hand.
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