By Lavania Subramaniam
“Have you watched Forrest Gump before, Lavania?” It was the first intriguing question Suriya Sankaran asked me during our conversation, a light-hearted nod to a film about an ordinary man thrust into extraordinary moments through sheer determination and an unyielding spirit.
Born as Suriakumar Sankaran, though he prefers to be called Suriya Sankaran, he grew up in the small town of Jitra, Kedah. As a child, he battled chronic bronchitis and lung issues that kept him side-lined from the rough-and-tumble world of school sports. While his friends sprinted across fields, kicked footballs, and played soccer with reckless abandon, Suriya watched from the side-lines-literally.
But where others might have seen limitation, Suriya discovered a different kind of fire within him. Unable to join the action on the pitch, he found his place supporting the team: snapping photos, cheering from the boundaries, and capturing moments others missed.
At just 12 years old, that passion for photography became his gateway to something bigger. A craze for BMX bicycle racing swept through the local estates- bikes modified for motocross-style jumps and dirt tracks. Despite his health concerns, Suriya threw himself into it.
From ages 12 to 14, he competed in BMX cross races around Tanjung Pauh Estate in Jitra, navigating bumpy paths and sharp turns on improvised dirt tracks. For the first time, he felt the thrill of competition without triggering his asthma or bronchitis.
“Finally, I knew that I could do something in my sports life,” he recalled.
That breakthrough ignited a lifelong love for speed and machinery, proving that limitations could be outmanoeuvred with creativity and grit.
By 1987, Suriya was working with Martin Food Caterer in Silibin, Ipoh, when fate intervened. One routine assignment brought him to the residence of Datuk Mohzani Wahab, then the Shell area manager in Perak. While setting up for a catering event at his residence, Suriya spotted something extraordinary in the garage: a Nissan Stanza rally car, surrounded by other high-performance machines linked to the world of professional rallying.
Names like Kenjiro Shinozuka, Ross Dunkerton, and Tengku Mahleel stood out- icons of the rally world closely associated with Shell’s motorsport programmes.
Datuk Mohzani noticed the young man’s wide-eyed excitement. He tapped Suriya on the shoulder and asked, “Would you like to see the cars?”
What started as a catering job turned into an unexpected moment of inspiration. Datuk Mohzani introduced him to the rally world up close, sharing stories of high-stakes races across Asia. That encounter planted the seeds for Suriya’s deeper involvement in motorsports.
After a stint in the hotel industry- including a couple of years in Singapore- Suriya returned to Penang, got married in 1993, and soon landed a role with Shell Malaysia in Butterworth in May 1994. By then, Datuk Mohzani had moved up to brand manager overseeing motorsports.
Under his wing, and with guidance from Motorsport Manager Aziz Isaari, Suriya’s passion reignited fully.
Inspired by the rally scene he had witnessed, Suriya saved aggressively and made a bold move: he purchased a Proton Wira 1.8- the rare FIA-homologated Limited Edition (often called the C99). Only 2,500 units were produced to qualify Proton for the Asia-Pacific Rally Championship (APRC).
Priced at nearly RM70,000- a significant sum in the mid-1990s- he funded it by selling other cars to friends and colleagues. He installed a roll cage, added Shell rally liveries under license from Dick Johnson Racing (Australia), and entered the fray as a privateer.
Between 1997 and 1998, he competed in pre-sanction rally events known as Rally Sprint in Perlis, going head-to-head with factory-backed teams despite his modest setup. Datuk Mohzani occasionally offered small sponsorship tokens as an employee perk.
Competing in Group N against legends like Karamjit Singh, Saladin Mazlan and Jimmy Low, Suriya entered the rally scene with determination rather than resources.
Together with team manager and co-driver Mohamed Zubaidi, Suriya adopted a simple philosophy:
“To win a rally, first you must finish it. Finishing is already a win.”
In 1999, that philosophy paid off. He achieved remarkable consistency- top-five finishes in all three rounds he entered (skipping one due to financial limitations)- eventually clinching the EON Proton Cup and Class 3 Championship.
The podium moment- with his wife, children Monessha and Dharveen, and crew by his side- was deeply emotional. Press coverage soon brought recognition from Shell.
That same year, when Formula 1 arrived in Malaysia, Suriya was tapped to assist in motorsport hospitality and pit operations with the Ferrari team. Reporting to Juan Carlos Perez, Vice President of Shell Global Motorsport Sponsorship, he helped bridge the gap between highly technical racing data- telemetry, sensors, and driver fatigue monitoring- and everyday explanations for partners and guests.
From a boy side-lined by illness to a rally competitor, Shell insider, and Formula 1 insider, Suriya Sankaran’s rise embodies Malaysian motorsport brilliance: resilience, mentorship, and a refusal to let circumstances define limits.
Little did he know, his Proton Wira- and his story- were about to intersect with one of the greatest drivers in history.
Lavania Subramaniam (lavania0701@gmail.com) is a content creator under the Newswav Creator programme, where you get to express yourself, be a citizen journalist, and at the same time monetize your content & reach millions of users on Newswav. Log in to creator.newswav.com and become a Newswav Creator now!
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