Alexander Charles Loong Yoong was born in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on the 20th of July 1976 and began his racing career at the tender age of eight when he took to Motorcross. Although most of today's Formula One success stories see the drivers spending their early years in karts, Alex didn't take to four wheels until adolescence when at the age of fifteen he took to the wheel of a Proton Saga. His first ever victory in the production series came in that same year. He was in charge of several different cars over the next two years, including Honda EF9 Gp N, Toyoto Corolla AE92 Gp A, Ford Zak speed Gp 5, DTM MBW, all between 1992 and 1994.
The first time he took up the challenge of a single seater was 1994 when he competed in the Formula Asia International Series. Here he laid claim to one win (China-Zhuhai) as well as numerous podium finishes. Here he continued on the following season, with eight wins and numerous podium finishes to his name before being honoured with the titles of International Series Vice Champion and Malaysian Champion.
1996 saw him switch to the British Formula Renault Sport Championship where he remained for two seasons, and despite his previous winning record, Alex failed to secure a single victory, however he secured numerous top six finishes before taking up the challenge in the British Formula 3 Championship. Once again, wins eluded the young Malaysian, however his faith never waned and he continued in his quest to rise to the top. After two seasons in this category and a ninth place finish in the Macau F3 Grand Prix, the next step up was F3000.
Starting in the Italian version in 1999, Alex completed five races, a second place his highest finish. Then, onto International championship for the remainder of the season, another five events, as well as a seventh placed finish at Macau.
The year 2000 saw him sign with Team Malaysia in the Japanese Formula 3000 series (Formula Nippon) and Team LeMans in 2001, where he remained up until his signing with the European Minardi team in August of the same year.
In signing the deal with Minardi, Alex is already a champion, as he has become the first ever Malaysian to compete at the highest level of Motorsports. With the Magnum Corporation, Malaysia's Ministry of Youth and Sports, Malaysia Airlines, TAG Heuer, TV3 Malaysia, NeuroWeb Malaysia and SITEFORUM Malaysia all behind him, as well as the remainder of his country, Alex should definitely be in the limelight for some time to come.
He competed in three races for the team in 2001, making his debut at Monza, however it wasn't until the season finale at Suzuka that he finally completed his first race. 2002 should be a better year for the Malaysian, his first full season in the sport, as the team finally upgrade their power supply switching from old Ford engines to the Asiatech supply used by Arrows in '01.
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