BONANOMI COMES IN AS YOONG OPTS TO CONCENTRATE ON MANAGEMENT

The country's first and so far only Formula 1 driver, who races for My Qi-Meritus.Mahara in the GP2 Asia Series, said he it was painful decision to make, as he was enjoying driving for Meritus, but was finding the time required to remain fully committed to the team increasingly difficult due to the expansion of his own 'Axle group' of companies.

He will be replaced by Italian Marco Bonanomi, who will be in the hot seat for the third round of the GP2 Asia Series at the Sakhir Track in Bahrain on Jan 23-24. The 23-year-old from Lecco, will partner rookie Earl Bamber for the four remaining races of the GP2 Asia season.

"I spoke to Peter Thompson (Meritus team principal) and we have decided to come to an agreement which is mutually beneficial to all parties. It was great to finally team up with Meritus who are without doubt Asia's most successful team, having won 32 titles over the past 12 years," said Yoong.

"I had done some driver coaching with them in the past but to finally get the chance to race with them was a lovely experience, GP2 Asia is a fantastic series and very competitive and the Team needs 100% commitment and focus from its drivers and I was finding this more and more difficult to obligate"

Thompson understood Yoong's decision and said the door is always open if the latter wishes to work with Meritus again.

"Alex has always been a proper professional and it was a pleasure to finally work with him after knowing him for so many years," said Thompson.

"Of course we are going to miss someone of his calibre and experience. He has been a big help to our GP2 team and I wish him all the best in his future endeavours. The door to Meritus is always opened to him.

"I'm delighted we managed to secure a replacement fairly quickly. Bonanomi is no stranger to GP2 Asia as he raced in last year's inaugural season and even won a race in Dubai. I'm confident he will settle in nicely in our team."

Q&A with Alex Yoong

What are your immediate plans?
I will be concentrating on the expansion of the 'Axle Group' developing a full range of expertise in initiating, commercially developing and implementing Motorsport and media products, as well a range of 'Axle' branded automotive performance enhancement parts. I also aim to increase my involvement with the Motorsport Association of Malaysia (MAM).

Tell us more about Axle Group
One of the Axle group of companies is Axle Motorsports, which is responsible for the launch and running of the Proton Axle Racing Team. I started Axle Motorsport last year and we had a successful season in the Asian Touring Car Super 1500Max Challenge or 1500Max for short. We won the drivers' title through Syafiq Ali, as well as the team crown, which was a fantastic achievement for a young team.

I have said for a long time that I need to move into other areas of motorsports as I won't be driving for ever, and Managing Axle racing and their various media and product initiatives will take up quite a lot of my time.

What do you do for MAM?
I'm helping the MAM with their karting events. It is a grassroots development programme and one I'm very committed to. Karting is the first step towards becoming a full fledged racing driver and we must have a good programme to educate the youngsters. It is my way of giving something back to the sport.

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The 2009 GP2 Asia Calendar:
Oct 18/19 2008 - Shanghai
Dec 5/6 2008 - Dubai
Jan 23/24 2009 - Bahrain
Feb 2009 - TBA ……
Apr 4/5 2009 - Sepang
Apr 18/19 2009 - Bahrain

GP2 Asia Series official test:
Oct 8/9 2008 - Shanghai