Leona Chin
came to prominence as a member of
Malaysia’s
Red Bull Rookies all-female driving squad in 2008. She beat many
other young Malaysian women to the coveted team spot.
She was sixth in Class B in the
Merdeka Millennium Challenge in 2008, driving a Honda DC2 with Puteri Ayu
Jasmin, Norlina Johor and Norbaizura Ruslan. They had qualified first in their
class.
Prior to her first year as a
Rookie, she had not done any circuit racing, but she had done some drifting,
which is very popular in Southeast Asia, competing since 2006. She got into
drifting and the modified car scene as a teenager. As soon as she was old
enough to own a car, she got involved herself.
In 2009, she tackled the Sepang
1000km in a Honda DC2, with Puteri, Diana Chin and Nur Hayati Omar. They were
21st and fourteenth in class. Her calendar also took in rallysprint events in
the MAM Championship, winning a Ladies’ and Junior title. Her car was a
two-litre Proton Satria.
She raced a Honda in the Ultimate
Challenge in 2010. The Challenge is a Honda-sponsored amateur motorsport
competition, involving karting and circuit racing.
2011 was mostly spent drifting,
although she did take part in the HPC 4-hour endurance race in Malaysia, and
was fourth in class, driving a Mazda Miata. She also did some Autocross grass
racing. Although she did not do much wheel to wheel racing, her profile
remained high, due to promotional work and TV appearances.
In 2012, she continued with
drifting, time attack, gymkhana and grass racing, and did some speed events in
2013, using a Radical, among other cars. For the next three seasons, she
competed around Southeast Asia, winning several ladies’ prizes and becoming
something of a name in the modified car scene.
She returned to the circuits in
2015. This was a new challenge, as she was racing a Caterham, and she had not
really driven an open sportscar before. She was competitive from the beginning.
In only her second race, at Sepang, she won the Supersport class. Out of the
eight races she did, all ended in podium finishes.
At the end of the year, she also
drove a Subaru Impreza in the 6-Hour Endurance race at Guangdong Raceway, as
part of a four-driver team with Sam Lau, Xi Xu Ping and Sun Qiang. They were
fourth in class. Her promotional activities this year were also more
circuit-focused, and included autocrossing against Jari-Matti Latvala for the
launch of the VW Polo Trophy model in Malaysia.
For 2016, she stuck with one-make
series and travelled to China to compete in the Renault Clio Cup. This was a
move that paid off; she was immediately on the pace, and on the podium. In her
second race, at Zhuhai, she was third, and then scored two seconds in Korea. She was second in the championship, with seven top-three finishes in total. Throughout the season, she was never lower than fifth.
She entered a round of the 2018 Mini Challenge Asia at Zhuhai and finished third overall.
In 2019, she raced in the Malaysian Championship series, driving a Suzuki Swift. She was second in the MTC class for saloon cars, with three wins from nine races plus three further podiums.
Driving for a different team in a different car (a Proton Saga), she entered the Sepang 1000km as part of an all-female team with Faye Kusairi and Nurul Husna Nasaruddin. They were seventh.
2020 wa meant to be spent in the Asian GT World Challenge, driving a Mercedes GT3 for Malaysian Legacy Racing. As motorsport was seriously affected by the worldwide coronavirus crisis, she had to make do with the Esports version.
She raced in the Malaysian Championship Series in 2021, held at Sepang the end of the year. Driving a Suzuki Swift, she won the M-Production class outright, with two race wins. The first was a dominant peformance ending in a lead of over a minute. She had to wait two more races to even finish, but a win in the final round was enough. This was impressive in a different way as she had started at the back.
A switch of car to a Honda Fit Gk5 was on the cards for 2022, still in the Malaysian Championship series. She initially joined the Bhp Racing team, but the car was not really competitive and she only did the first two rounds. Later in the year, she drove a Toyota Vios in the Sepang 1000km, sharing with Adele Lew. They were 44th overall.
Another run in the Sepang 1000km in 2023, was not a success either. As part of a four-driver team in a Suzuki Swift, she could only manage 58th place. She entered the Macau Guia 70th anniversary race in a Honda, having scrambled to get sponsorship together, but it was not enough and she could not race.
She did finally get to race at Macau in 2024, taking part in the Greater Bay Area GT Cup in a Porsche 718 Cayman. She qualified in 20th and finished 15th. The race itself had more than one safety car period to clear up after crashes and she was the only Cayman finisher.
Her Malaysian Championship Series in 2024 had ended before it began, when her Suzuki Swift was written off after being hit by another driver during the first round. Later in the year, she geared up for her Macau debut with a run in the Shanghai 8 Hours, driving the Cayman with two team-mates. They were third overall on a wet track.
Leona has many sponsors, for whom
she makes appearances in the Asian media. As well as racing herself, she runs
her own car accessories firm, Kuraz Motorsports, and works as a stunt driver
for TV.
(Image from http://leona.kurazmotorsports.com/)
