PEOPLE

Chin wears: Jacket, RM1,399, Zakwan Anuar.

Top, RM99.90, H&M. Pants, RM659, Lovers + Friends from Killer Dolce.

Helmet and shoes, both her own

Leona Chin, 28PROFESSIONAL MOTOR SPORT RACER

M y whole group of friends liked cars,” says Leona Chin, grinning broadly. “They poisoned me!” As dire as it sounds, the results of being infected by her friends’ obsession with racing was a lifelong passion for cars. “I got my first car at 19,” she adds.

That car, a Nissan 200SX, which is considered a classic in the local racing world, led Chin on her way to becoming a professional motor sport racer. In exchange for helping to build a website, Chin got her friend to help her learn how to drift. “I just wanted to learn how to utilise the car,” Chin explains innocently.

Chin had already garnered a certain amount of recognition within the local motor sport community before a video of her masquerading as a student driver became a viral hit. Chin took driving instructors on the rides of their lives (much to their horror), and the video appeared everywhere from Buzzfeed to the Daily Mail.

“Thanks to that video I’ve been very busy,” she acknowledges. Her recent sponsorships from CloudHax, a local search engine, and GoPro were a direct result of the video posted on YouTube in March. She’s hoping it will translate into better sponsorship.

“Racing is an expensive sport. You need money to modify the car, change the tires. When I started out I knew I needed sponsors, so I approached them directly. Some agreed, others were sceptical,” says Chin. The ones who sponsored her were intrigued by the fact that she was a woman in the sport, and the ones who were sceptical felt that way for the same reason. “They would ask me are you sure you can drive? Can you take me for a drift?”

These days, people are less likely to question her skill, partly because of her increasing popularity (the video has received over 32 million views) and also because there are now more women in the racing scene. “Nowadays, when I say I’m a racer people just ask me what car I have. I still have guys asking if I can drive faster than them, but they’re probably not from Malaysia,” she laughs.

Chin has a talent for winning races, whether rallies, endurance racing or time attacks. In April she took part in the inaugural Caterham Motorsport 2015 Championship, where she blew everyone away with an unexpected second placing in race one. She went on to take the win in race two.

“Some races have gender categories, but this one didn’t. If they had a category for ladies, it would have one racer: me,” she grins. “So I went up against the guys and I beat them.”

Chin’s satisfaction over her recent win is palpable, and it’s obvious she’s hungry for more. Her next step is to get an international licence, which would allow her to race overseas, and that can only mean bigger and better wins.

“Some races have gender categories, but this one didn’t. If they had a category for ladies, it would have one racer: me.

I went up against the guys and I beat them.”

PEOPLE Feature ELLEJuly15.indd 49 6/15/15 4:06 PM