The Minardi team recently announced they will have the city of Kuala Lumpur as title sponsor for the 2002 season, a sort of backing not very often seen in Formula One. Karl Ludvigsen reviews the countries and regions that have used racing to promote their interests

I was over the moon when I heard that Minardi will have the city of Kuala Lumpur as its title sponsor next season. That's a big payoff for the hard work that Paul Stoddart has been investing in that part of the world. It should help Minardi gain respectability, as long as Asiatech gets its act together with its engines. So it's very good news. But why am I so cock-a-hoop about it? Well, let me put it this way: Kuala Lumpur is the first and so far the only city I've visited where my initials are on all the taxis. Now they're on the Minardis as well!

This got me thinking about countries and regions that have used racing to promote their interests. Malaysia is no newcomer, of course, having backed Stewart Grand Prix. Its premier Mahathir Mohamad, who looks far younger than his 76 years, is a stalwart nationalist who has asserted the rights of the indigenous Malays at the expense of the Chinese immigrants and the former British rulers.

In creating his own Proton car brand from scratch, he heavily taxed the parts imports of other car assemblers but admitted parts for his cars without duties. After a rocky start Proton has recovered and is now well on its way to becoming a respected brand both at home and in Europe.

Mahathir said that KL's backing of Minardi was aimed at "creating a platform for Malaysian companies, destinations and events to reach potential customers around the world." It will be a little while yet before the companies are convincing exporters. Back in the 1980s the domestic auto-parts suppliers were well short of the level of quality that Proton needed, causing it to lean heavily on Mitsubishi for help.

Since then they've improved, I'm sure. I know that BMW is sourcing some of its electronics from Malaysia, for example. But the real benefit will come on the tourism side, I think - an activity where KL and the country's resorts have a lot to offer. I've never been in a better-run hotel than the one I stayed in at KL.

Saudi Arabia had a strong push to enhance its identity for some years with the Williams team, though that was mainly through its national airline. Alitalia had high visibility in the rallying efforts of Fiat and Lancia, but I can't recall it ever backing Formula One. Of course from time to time the Italian government has reached into its pockets to help Ferrari. One such instance was in 1955 when Ferrari was given the Lancia racing cars and some backing from the government as well. That's the main reason that Enzo Ferrari reached into his own pockets to pay Fangio what he wanted to race for him in 1956.

Alain Prost probably wishes he could have the kind of help from his government that his nation's own CTA-Arsenal Grand Prix project received just after the war. Distinctly pink, the post-war French government was highly interventionist and paid for the development of a supercharged 1.5-liter V-8 with all-independent springing. It was, sadly, a memorable fiasco. Some people think of Britain's BRM as a "national" racing car, but in fact it was backed by industry rather than by government. It was none the more successful for that.

If we go back even farther we find the Nazis putting up significant amounts of money to encourage their leading companies, Daimler-Benz and Auto Union, to build new GP cars for the 1934 racing formula. Down in Italy its premier racing-car builder, Alfa Romeo, was owned outright by Mussolini's government.

Of course these nations backed racing less for the promotion of "destinations and events" and more as a means of communicating their strength of technology and resolute determination. It helped, too, that Adolf Hitler was a fan of cars and racing, a quality - and I hasten to suggest the main quality - that he and Mahathir Mohamad have in common. It's always good to have a friend at the top.