iRacing to Reality: Naquib and Nabil Azlan

In just four short years, Naquib and Nabil Azlan have gone from sim racing upstarts to two of the most promising young racing talents in Malaysia. Under the tutelage of Alex Yoong, Malaysia’s first Formula 1 driver, the Azlan brothers have become stars in both virtual and real-world racing, earning their way into not only real-world opportunities in Toyota Gazoo Racing’s driver development program, but also this year’s FIA Motorsport Games in Valencia.

After multiple years of success on sims, the duo entered TGR’s real-world Rookie Driver Development Programme, with Naquib and Nabil winning the titles in that series in back-to-back years. They replicated that success in the iconic Sepang 1000km, with Naquib once again winning first in 2022 and Nabil taking top honors the following year.

“Sim racing has been such a tool for me personally to be able to develop myself as a driver due to how close it is to real life now,” says Naquib. “As would others say, it doesn’t get any closer to real life than iRacing. Sim racing gave me the opportunity to really explore my capabilities and try stuff out of the ordinary to give me an edge out on track.”

“Sim racing, especially iRacing, has been a crucial part in my development as a driver,” adds Nabil. “It taught me the fundamentals of race craft, helped me refine my consistency, and gave me a competitive platform to prepare for real-world challenges.”

The Azlan brothers got their big sim racing break in Yoong’s eRacing GP events, organized by the real-world star to give Asia Pacific-based drivers a path to advance their careers. Impressed by the duo, Yoong took them under his wing at his own Axle Academy, where they continue to coach today.

“I have found iRacing to be superior in terms of realism and physics,” explains Yoong. “It’s a great platform for sim racing competitions as well as racers who are looking to replicate the real-world racing experience, and has helped us train and develop drivers who want to make the transition from the virtual world to the racetrack.”

As of this year, both Azlan brothers have now represented Malaysia at the FIA Motorsport Games. Naquib made appearances in the Esports GT category in each of the last two events, while Nabil’s debut came in Esports F4 on iRacing. Nabil’s path to Valencia started with one of many codes provided by iRacing to FIA ASNs around the world to get drivers started on the sim for free, which he converted into the Asia Pacific Esports Formula Cup championship and the fastest time on the Malaysian qualifying leaderboard to earn the spot.

To keep up with the Azlan brothers and Axle Sports, follow @naquib_azlan, @nabill.azlan, and @axlemotorsport on Instagram, and visit axle-sports.com.

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