• There are certain habits to be successful in the automotive and motorsports industries.

• Here we spoke to Harun Zainal, one of TOC Automotive College’s Trainer in the Superbike Technician Course.

• Do you have what it takes?

It’s just like reading the book “Millionaire Success Habits.” There should exist certain habits to be successful in the automotive and motorsports industries, too.

We decided to speak to Harun Zainal, a Trainer in the Superbike Technician Course at TOC Automotive College.

Bikes Republic: Surely TOC Automotive College welcomes every student. But what do these students need in order to excel?
Harun Zainal: First of all, it’s passion and patience, especially in motorsports. It’s because we don’t know how our team will be. A team is made of different personalities and attitudes, so we need to be strong.

Other than that, as a technician, we should love to look at machinery in motion. We can’t take it when we see a broken or motionless vehicle. In motorsports you want to see the vehicle become faster.

It is the technician’s mission in making that vehicle go faster. But how do we do that? You need to work with the team.

There must also be a willingness to learn. There’s no such thing as you stop learning in the industry. There is always something new that you will learn. You learn at every single race.

Bikes Republic: What make motorsports tough?
Harun Zainal: It’s not just about making the vehicle go fast. We need to learn about the regulations and make it work within that set of rules. Not adhering to the rules means disqualification. (Getting DQ’d wastes everyone’s effort, time and money – Editor.)

Bikes Republic: What kind of motorcycle racing is TOC involved in?
Harun Zainal: TOC is involved in racing the Malaysia Superbike Championship (MSBK), the TOC-Ducati Desmo Cup and Malaysia Speed Festival (MSF).

We supply the pit crew to these teams involved (so the students may learn).

Bikes Republic: How about the TOC students who are graduating? What qualities should they have when entering the workforce?
Harun Zainal: Based on my own experience, it’s not about the salary, it’s about loving what you do. It’s about having a vehicle running optimally.

To me a technician is like a motorcycle or car doctor. You should not think about money, instead you should focus more on helping people. That shouldn’t only apply to my students, but also to all the technicians in the country.

Bikes Republic: There are many workshops that still lack in proper workshop practices. Does TOC inculcate the correct workshop practices?
Harun Zainal: Yes, of course. We already teach the students about proper workshop ethics from their very first classes on the first day. It’s about training up self-discipline good attitude.

We hope that they could spread this culture among other technicians. I think a big number of workshops are gradually beginning to change their ways.

Vehicle owners are increasingly aware about sending their vehicles to workshops that are clean, have proper tools, etc. This is a good culture. I can foresee that the workshops in our country will head towards being better in the next few years.

Please click here to find out more about the TOC Automotive College. Please click here if you are interested in the Superbike Technician Course. TOC has a programme called Bina Bakat to assist potential students in need of an education loan.

TOC Automotive College can be reached at (+603) 7960 8833