Ferocious Drive

AS everyone knows it today, Formula One is a sport of glamour and huge expense. Monaco, yachts, private jets and annual budgets in excess of RM1 billion to even hope of reaching a podium finish.
At the centre of all that, however, is a man who started in this sport battling the bailiffs - from a telephone booth that was his office.
He has gone on to build one of the greatest teams in Formula One, and won the highest accolade possible in the sport - which was the regulating body Federation Internationale de l'Automobile's decision to change the rules because of his team's domination of a category.
His blood is as blue as you can get in racing. He is Sir Frank Williams, whose first season in the 1970s cost roughly STG25,000, compared to an estimated STG220 million budget today that he spends on putting two racing cars on the track 17 times a year under the banner of BMW.WilliamsF1.
Sir Frank, who turns 61 on April 16, was knighted in 1999 for his contributions to British motor sport. Thirteen years previously, he was involved in a horrific car accident which put him in a wheelchair.
The same ferocious drive that made him run 70 miles every week before the accident in 1986 is what keeps him to a punishing travel schedule.
This year's 16-race season starts in Australia and Kuala Lumpur in March, and continues with 13 races in Europe, the US and Latin America before finishing in Japan. Belgium has been dropped. The season is expected to go back to 17 races next year with the inclusion of Shanghai.
That determination is also what brought him the most dominant team of the 1990s. His focus never wavered, and together with partner and team technical director Patrick Head, WilliamsF1 has raked in nine Constructors' Championships and seven Drivers' Championships.
Almost anyone in the Formula One pit would have greeted their driver's second place in the Australian Grand Prix with glee. Not Frank Williams, or his lieutenant of 25 years, Head.
Their reputation in dealing with drivers - who, in the public eye, take all the glory - is legendary. The partners of 26 years have sacked no less than two world champions after they won drivers' titles for Williams.
Nigel Mansell and Damon Hill, having become world champions, thought for the briefest of moments that they could command the Williams team. One ended up failing a seat-fitting for McLaren in 1993, and the other, playing guitar at charity functions.
There is no doubt that Sir Frank and Head will continue to dictate the pace for all drivers who are fortunate enough to sit in a car engineered by WilliamsF1.
It may well be that they have at least one of the two best drivers in the Formula One World Championship today. But the likes of the Colombian cruiser Juan Pablo Montoya would do well to resist stamping his pudgy paw on the shiny throttle mid-way through a corner - especially after the British Grand Prix in July, where electronic assistance will be no more.
Without question, Sir Frank has secured his place in Formula One history through the sheer competitiveness of the WilliamsF1 team. Head and Sir Frank's 28-year-old son Jonathan, who is now involved in the business, can be expected to continue to build on the Williams tradition.
And that will only be to the benefit of all Formula One fans.

Q: What does Formula One mean to you?
A: It is my passion, it is my life, a fascinating business.

Q: What do you think of the new ruling on qualifying?
A: (FIA did it) for several reasons. One, may be to make (the) qualifying (session) better for the fans. Previously, you see only a few cars on the track in the first 30 minutes of qualifying (on Saturday). The more cars run at any one time, the quicker the track becomes. The quicker the track, the quicker is the time, not the fuel load. But everyone waits for the last 30 minutes to go out.
By extending it another day, it makes better television viewing and helps get more sponsors.

Q: It (winning) depends on strategy?
A: It does depend on strategies. We (the cars) carried a lot of fuel during qualifying (at the Australian race). Ferrari carried a lot more than us. It is quite a different situation as drivers get a different kind of confidence (depending) on the fuel on board, whether it is 7 kilos or
100 kilos.

Q: The F1 World Championship 2003 has just started and you are already
taking a break?
A: A rare event. We work 52 weeks a year on F1 and 17 times a year we stop work to go racing.

Q: Who are the best drivers on the track today?
A: Everyone says Michael (Schumacher) is the best driver in F1 now ... (David) Coulthard and (Kimi) Raikonnen (another McLaren driver) are up the alley ... (but where drivers are concerned it's) very subjective.

Q: Who is your idol?
A: Sir Jackie Stewart (former World Champion Driver). He was and still
is.

Q: You've said that four key elements of a modern-day F1 package are car, driver, tyres and engine. Does WilliamsF1 have these for the 2003 season?
A: We have had a reasonable start. We have a brand-new car... we've not got the best out of it yet.

Q: You've been described as "a dealer, a fitness fanatic who was happiest thinking on his feet. As a race driver, he was erratic: as a team manager and owner, he possessed that indefinable something that is key to survival." How far is this true?
A: Well, as a dealer, that was 35 years ago. I was erratic as a race driver. (I was racing until) I broke my neck. As a team manager and owner, we all know that in a business like this, where you have 200 to 500 people working for you, it is a team effort.

Q: Besides motor racing, what are your other interests? How much time do you spend on these?
A: Aviation, reading, classical music. I spend like 2 per cent of my time on them. The rest is on Formula One. Like I told you earlier, it is my passion.

Q: Where do you source your strength from?
A: You source your energy from this (passion). It gets you going. It gets you up in the mornings.

Think You're Tough?

Dressed in Combat Orders (loreng in Bahasa Malaysia), Brigadier General Datuk Ahmad Rodi Zakaria, with his deep, resonant voice, has the sort of hard military demeanour guaranteed to make even a grown man cringe.
However, sitting in his office in the sprawling Sg Udang camp in Malacca, from where he commands the country's elite 21 Special Service Group - which comprises four combat regiments and other support and services elements - this tanned, white-haired, one-star general can be as affable as your next-door neighbour - albeit not your average one.
After all, lock-picking and the ability to manufacture explosives from products readily available on supermarket shelves, are just two of his many skills.
If McGyver - the Hollywood action man who can short-circuit a nuclear missile with a paper clip, or plug an acid leak with a candy bar – comes to mind, you are not far off the mark!
"There is a McGyver in every commando," Ahmad Rodi guffaws.
Ahmad Rodi and his men, who wear the green beret and the insignia of their areas of specialisation on their battle fatigues, are a breed apart from your conventional combatants.
He refuses to divulge his area of specialisation, but he has the insignia of the Indonesian Special Forces Group on his Combat Orders.
Like his men, the brigadier general is a jack-of-all-trades. Ahmad Rodi - who not only trained in Indonesia, but also in the United States and Australia - has the basic knowledge of an array of essential combat skills such as parachute jumping, field medicine, communications and demolition.
He and his men are also battle-ready and can be deployed at a moment's notice - for involvement in any form of action. The Sauk Incident in 2000 is just one such example.
Despite being based in the south of the country, the commandos were flown in a C-130 from Batu Berendam, Malacca, and choppered into Sauk, Perak, from Butterworth within hours of the Al-Maunah camp being sighted.
"Men from the Special Service Group are noted for their adaptability and flexibility," said Ahmad Rodi.
"When our men were part of the Malaysian Battalion involved in the United Nations' peacekeeping operations in Somalia, they went in to rescue American Rangers when others didn't want to. We are highly respected because of that."
A Malaysian soldier was killed and several others injured in the operation to rescue the American Rangers in the Bakara Market incident of 1993.
In Black Hawk Down, the Hollywood movie version of the event, Pakistani soldiers - not Malaysians - were erroneously portrayed as the heroes of the hour.
Ahmad Rodi attributes the commandos' strength to their esprit de corps.
"The love of the green beret is very strong. There is a sense of belonging and camaraderie as officers and men from the ranks undergo the same training process."
A soldier joins the Special Forces on voluntary basis after his basic military training. For officers, candidates come from the army college and the military academy, while other ranks come from the recruitment training centre and other army units."
Three basic commando courses are conducted annually, which see the participation of some 10 officers and 750 other ranks. Of these, about half will pass the physical and mental training programme. Candidates who fail first-time round will be given the opportunity to try again.
To earn the right to wear the commando's green beret, a soldier will have to pass the basic 12-week commando course which takes men to their limits.
One ex-commando recalled having to wake up at 2am to play football using only a golf ball as part of camp training. Another related his experience of being left in the jungle for a week with nothing but a knife, matches and some salt.
"There are horror stories, but I am not going to recount any just now," Ahmad Rodi says with a laugh. "It builds mental resilience, character... it brings out the man in them."
Serving in the Special Forces Group requires volunteers who are fit, motivated, determined and resourceful.
"They must not only possess the highest level of physical fitness, they must also boast a strong mental capacity. We require personnel who are not only able to work as members of a team, but who are also reliable and confident individuals," he explained.
Prior to the basic commando course, candidates undergo a one-month pre-basic course to prepare for the basic commando course. This is to provide them with a wide range of combat skills and teach them how to maintain their bodies and equipment, so that despite "being wet, tired and hungry, they can summon the additional energy and motivation to carry on".
During the basic course, trainees undergo various physical and mental tests and are subjected to the harshest of physical and mental stress.
Besides physical aspects, characteristics the Special Forces Group expects in a would-be recruit are a sense of responsibility, honesty and loyalty. They must also be knowledgeable, proactive, courageous, confident - as well as mentally and physically strong.
Course instructors then make their assessments of trainees.
"If instructors determine that trainees lack any of the criteria required, they will not be selected. Their respective commanders will also evaluate their psychological profiles once they join the units. If they do not meet the required profile, they will normally be posted back to their respective units."
Training generally starts at 0715 hours (7.15am to civilians) and will last until the task is completed. Days usually begin with a five kilometer (minimum) morning run in full battle dress uniform, followed by weapons, land navigation, radio communication and other field-craft training.
Assault and ambush tactics are refined and perfected.
Special attention is also given to unconventional warfare tactics, while night training involves 10km to 20km forced marches with 60lb loads. Live ammunition training is conducted twice a month. Other programmes include waterborne and airborne operations.
Upon completion of the basic course, recruits will then be sent on specialist sniper, parachute-jumping, close-quarter battle, special demolitions and amphibious-and jungle-warfare courses. It takes between four and six years to properly qualify as a trained commando.
The Special Service Group also engages in cross training with the other special forces such as the British SAS, the Australian Commando Units, the New Zealand SAS and the American Special Forces.
"We have to interact with the Special Forces of the world to improve our effectiveness and efficiency," Ahmad Rodi added.
The Special Service Group is currently a male preserve, Ahmad Rodi explained, adding, however, that calls for volunteers do not specify gender.
"We see a need for female volunteers, perhaps not now, but in the future... threats are different now and they require a different level of specialisation and expertise."
These days, this Kedah-born 50-something spends most of his time on the camp.
"We were never based on camp for long periods in the past. We were always going into the jungle. The threats then were real, but we enjoyed ourselves.
"We face a different kind of threat today... non-conventional and advanced training have to be modified to meet this."
Despite the harsh physical and mental demands of the profession, Ahmad Rodi clearly takes pride in his position as commander of the 21 Special Service Group, which will soon have a new home at the RM422-million 400ha Special Forces Group complex at Sungai Sekakap, Mersing, Johor. Due to be completed next year, it will be among the most modern of its kind in the world.