She said getting MAM to inspect the tracks’ safety was the first thing the ministry did after a member of the public was killed in a crash during a motorsports event in Perak last year.
The tracks that have been certified by MAM include the Sepang Circuit, Sepang Karting Circuit, Morac Adventure Track (Langkawi), City Karting Kart Circuit (Shah Alam), Speedway Plus Karting Circuit (Subang Jaya), Litar Lumba Rakyat (Kuala Selangor), Tangkak Racing Track and Melaka International Motorsport Circuit (Durian Tunggal).
The other tracks are Unimap Racing Circuit (Arau), Universiti Utara Malaysia Go-Kart Track (Sintok), Gong Badak Motorsport Circuit (Kuala Terengganu), Miri Track (Permyjaya), Apdcrew Circuit MAEPS (Seri Kembangan), Alyezo Speedzone (Shah Alam) and Jempol Drag Strip.
Yeoh said those who wanted to organise motorsports events should obtain licences from the sports commissioner and display their licences clearly at their venues.
“We need to make sure these two things are done (certifying tracks and displaying licences).
“Tracks that have not been inspected by MAM are considered risky places,” she told reporters at a press conference at the Speedway Plus Karting Circuit here.
Yeoh also advised state governments and other parties wanting to build racing tracks to secure solid funding first and not to build tracks without proper planning.
She said building tracks without having enough finances for periodic maintenance work would only cause “more trouble for everyone”.
“We need to stop this culture of building tracks without financial allocations or a stable budget for periodic maintenance. This is dangerous for the participants,” she said.
“As the minister, my commitment is to obtain financial support to strengthen motorsports in Malaysia, which is now drawing interest even from children,” she said.
She did not comment further on the fatal incident in Perak as it is still under police investigation.
Last December, a spectator was killed after being hit by a race car during the CCT Battle of Champions race at the Dato’ Sagor Circuit in Pasir Salak.
Perak police chief Yusri Hassan Basri said the victim, a workshop operator, aged 32, died while being treated at the hospital.
The victim was killed when two of the 12 cars in the race grazed each other when making a turn, causing one to go off the track and subsequently hitting the victim.