VISOR

The next weekend after the 2011 Singapore Karting Championship concluded, the WSK Singapore introductory race was held – on 26 and 27 November at Kartright Speedway. Luca Dedonno, President of WSK Promotion, was present at the race, flying in specially from Italy just to watch it. Vega tyres were used for this race and karters had to make adjustments to the kart setup as well as to their driving, as these tyres are different from the Yokohama ones used in the SKC.

CADET

National Cadet karting champion Jon Lee won his race but not without facing some pressure from James Pull, who did not race in the SKC this year but has been gaining experience racing in Europe.

In the pre-final, Pull got to a great start and took the lead immediately but was overtaken by Lee later, plagued by his inferior kart. In the final, Pull had a great start again but he was unable to finish the race well unfortunately due to mechanical problems. Lee took the win, followed by Jayden Jin De and Lee’s younger brother Josh.

Said Jon, “I had a good start in the final and pulled away from the pack; thereafter keeping in front and maintaining the pace. The new Vega tyres had more grip and caused the steering to be heavier so it was more physical. We had to make a setup change to accommodate the new tyres but it was all good.”

JUNIOR

After showing immense improvement in her racing at the previous weekend’s SKC, more was expected out of Manon Maistre this time but she was facing some technical difficulties unfortunately. The Junior race saw the ongoing battle between Amin Noorzilan, Gabriella Teo and Yeo Hong Yang ensue. Two-time Junior national karting champion Amin won Heat 1 on Saturday in the dry, but it was Yeo who won the wet Heat 2 with Teo behind him.

Teo gave the boys a run for their money when she won the pre-final on Sunday after taking the lead from Yeo. Yeo and Amin then engaged in their usual battle – Amin overtook Yeo on lap 6 at Turn 2 on the inside line, then Yeo took Amin back at Turn 6 with eight more laps to go. They kept switching positions until finally Yeo overtook Amin on the last lap and finished second to Teo.

Having won the pre-final, Teo started in pole position for the final and was leading the race until Yeo overtook her for the win. Amin had to settle for third behind both of them. Elsewhere behind the three of them, Ryan Chng collided with Manon and the latter had to retire from the race.

Commenting on the race after, Yeo said, “I started in second place for the final and I was planning to overtake (Gabriella) Teo. I accidently gave her a nudge down the hill when I overtook her and I apologised to her after the race. She was cool about it! After overtaking her I managed to pull away, stay cool and push hard to finish ahead.”

SENIOR

The father-son combination of Paul and Thaddeus Lee reigned supreme with the elder Lee winning the Master class and the younger Lee winning the Senior class. Thaddeus won Heat 1 but lost Heat 2 to Clinton Suryabara. It was a calm and rather uneventful pre-final for the Seniors with Thaddeus starting first on the grid, Mohammad Nasri Naufal (Opai) in second and Clinton in third – they finished in that same starting order.

Thaddeus had a straightforward final, leading from start to end. Opai however, was chasing Thaddeus until technical problems struck his kart and he had to let the field go before eventually retiring with just three more laps to go.

“It’s the first time that we are using the new tyres and we didn’t do much testing with the Vega tyres which are different from the Yokohama tyres used in the SKC. For one it has a lot more grip, meaning different track conditions and handling. The race was about maintaining my consistency and getting grip with the new tyres,” said Thaddeus after the race.

MASTER

Paul Lee led a relatively easy pre-final from start to end, like how his son Thaddeus did in the Senior final. Pongchai Malakul had a flying start and was up to second in the pre-final, until Lim Keong Liam overtook him and he finished third. Carrie Choy met with an incident at Turn 1 and was forced to retire from the race. Lim was right on Lee’s heels from the get-go and took the lead with just 10 laps to go, but Lee managed to get back the lead with seven laps to go and there he stayed to the end.

“My strategy was to take pole position then stay cool and push hard till the end. I had a good battle with Lim in the final – I turned back to look for him and next thing I know he was in front of me already! Jokes aside, the new tyres had a lot more grip and they lasted quite long. I needed more time to get used to the handling of the kart with these tyres unlike my son Thaddeus who got the hang of it quicker!” said Lee.

The WSK Singapore introductory race marked the end of the 2011 Singapore karting season. According to race organiser Mark Lange, the Asian WSK 2012 Series is being planned for Singapore, Malaysia, Macau and Japan.

RESULTS

CADET
1st – Jon Lee
2nd – Jayden Jin De
3rd – Josh Lee

JUNIOR
1st – Yeo Hong Yang
2nd – Gabriella Teo
3rd – Amin Noorzilan

SENIOR
1st – Thaddeus Lee
2nd – Clinton Suryabara
3rd – Jason Lee

MASTER
1st – Paul Lee
2nd – Lim Keong Liam
3rd – Leon Khoo
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The 2012 SKC calendar will only be released after the Lunar New Year, but discussions between the SKC team and the Singapore Motor Sport Association (the local motorsports governing body) have resulted in some probable changes to the regulations for this year.

Technicalities aside, some of the potential changes to the SKC that might be of concern to the local race karter community at large include the one about all Singaporean kart racing licence holders needing to participate in at least one round of the SKC 2012 in order to renew their licence for the next year.

Outside of the SKC, there are actually a lot more Singaporean karters racing across the Causeway and even across the globe. For example, Andrew Tang, the Asian Karting Open Championship 2011 Senior champion, did not race in the SKC at all last year and was concentrating his efforts in Europe. Should this regulation be implemented, it means drivers like Andrew have to make a trip back home to do one national round to renew his race licence.

In tandem with its objective of educating about motorsports, the SKC has allowed for a programme that enters students from the ITE mechanical course to take part in the series. This gives students the opportunity to drive race karts and gain practical knowledge about mechanics. An independent points system will be created for these ITE students so they effectively have their own championship within and separate from the SKC main championships.

Taking a leaf from the inaugural OCBC Corporate Karting Challenge last year – where companies sent in teams of four drivers to compete in a four-hour endurance race using rental karts – the SKC is looking into having an additional category for sponsors and partners to have a friendly corporate race. Karts used for this new corporate race segment will be rental karts and not the professional race karts of the SKC.

With all these upcoming potentialities, the SKC 2012 season holds immense promise for an exciting year ahead.

Here are the possible changes to the SKC 2012 regulations:

CIK-FIA Weight Classification
The weight classification will follow the CIK-FIA ruling. This will result in the minimum weight being around 10kgs difference to the current regulations.

Engine Classification
Engines that will be allowed into the SKC including KF2, KF3, Mini Rok and Rotax Max. This has been decided as 2011 saw very few engines outside these categories, thus allowing an ideal time to simplify the regulations to lower costs in the overall infrastructure of the sport and allowing for industry development.

Warnings/Protests/Appeals
The education for drivers and teams on how to approach a heated situation will be addressed. This will be done with proper behavior and procedures when interacting with stewards and officials. Information, pre-determined by drivers will dictate roles of responsibility within teams, drivers and parents. This also includes any occurrences do take place such as un-sportmanship behaviour and penalties will be given accordingly. The objective is to educate teams and drivers that sometimes calls don’t go your way and that stewards interpret a set of rules, they are not there to explain fairness or themselves.

Official SKC Tyres
After two seasons with the Yokohama kart tyre, the SKC will be most likely moving to European tyre manufacturer, Vega. The Vega tyre current is the official tyre for World Series karting and has been proven on the world stage in modern times, showing more consistent performances than the Yokohama counterpart.

Engine Seals
The engine seal used on the engine to seal after scruteneering will be re-designed to make the engine harder to tamper with.

Corporate Races
At the SKC in 2012, there may be an added category that will allow sponsors and partners to take part in the SKC carnival over the weekend. This will be a fun kart race added to help promote new driving experiences with the race being held on the SKC weekend itself.

Race Licensing
The SMSA may be adding a new rule that will require Singaporean karters to participate in 1 Singaporean National round per year, in order to renew their licence for the year after. This means that all Singaporean licence holders will need to participate in at least 1 round of the SKC 2012.

ITE Participation
Drivers for the SKC will be taken from the ITE Mechanical course. This gives students the opportunity to drive race karts after learning about mechanics, promoting karting within a relevant educational facility. These drivers will run inside the SKC though will have their own championship standings.

*Reference: Singapore Karting Championship official website

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Going across the globe to race in world-class karting series such as the various WSK (World Series Karting) championships is an opportunity that many local drivers hope for, but the serious amount of funding limits the chances and only a certain segment of Asian drivers are able to invest in European racing.

From 2012 onwards though, Singaporean kart racers can look forward to an Asian WSK series, a new regional karting championship that literally brings world-class racing to their doorstep. With plans to be held in Singapore, Malaysia and either Thailand or Macau this year, the Asian WSK series has further plans to expand to other countries in the Asian region thereafter.

The WSK’s new regional series is likely kick off from Q2 of 2012, subject to confirmation, with the Singapore leg tentatively scheduled for October on a temporary karting track of CIK grade. Credit goes to Renovatio Imperii, a company registered in Hong Kong and Singapore, for bringing the WSK branding into Asia.

Drivers in Singapore have already established themselves at the national karting standards with the Singapore Karting Championship (SKC) and some have gone on to compete at the Asian Karting Open Championship (AKOC) that is held in Malaysia, The Philippines, Thailand and Macau.

Not only will the Asian WSK series be another platform for them to hone their skills, the best Asian talents from this series will also be provided an opportunity to join a factory team and participate as one of their drivers in the WSK’s season-ending event, the WSK Nations Cup.

Q&A with Mark Lange and Julian Lee of Renovatio Imperii:

1. When did you first get the idea of bringing WSK to Asia? How long did it take between approaching WSK and getting the official contract?
The decision to extend the WSK branding into Asia was a natural progression of our business plan. We started though product sales when we took on the distributorship for AIM data systems and Maranello racing karts in Singapore and thereafter extending our expertise to facility and event management when we began operating the Shanghai Kartworld track, in the grounds of the Shanghai F1 circuit. In the process, we developed many positive relationships with the European principals of the major karting manufacturers and the independent racing teams – the strong support and encouragement we received from our European friends were important elements to WSK Promotion srl deciding to work with us as a partner in extending their established series into the Asian continent.

2. Why did you decide to create a WSK Asia series?
It was a project that we had long discussed with WSK Productions and both parties decided that the conditions were right to introduce the WSK series into Asia. We are excited to be working with WSK Promotion srl to promote their globally renowned brand in Asia through a regional series that will bring the WSK to Singapore, Malaysia and either Thailand or Macau in 2012, with further plans to expand the series thereafter to other countries in the Asian region.

3. Who can take part in this series? Only Asians or Europeans too?
Apart from the WSK Singapore Race in November 2011 which is open to Singapore and Malaysian national license holders, we intend to have the 2012 series inscribed as regional race events, thus open to drivers of any nationality, holding the necessary international licensing and release letters from their respective ASNs.

4. What do you hope to achieve out of creating WSK Asia? What impact do you think this will have on the motorsports scene in Asia and particularly in Singapore?
The WSK Asia series will complement the various national and regional karting series that presently exists in Asia. Firstly, it is important for young drivers to get exposure and experience that only comes with participating in as many sanctioned races as they can afford to enter. For the young drivers that then begin establishing themselves in national races, they will find the WSK Asia series to be the next level of competition where they compete against other regional drivers. For local karters, this new regional series provides a unique avenue through which the best Asian talents will be provided an opportunity to join a factory team and participate as one of their drivers in the WSK’s season-ending event, the WSK Nations Cup.

5. What other initiatives are you engaging in to back up the WSK Asia?
We have several initiatives that we are excitedly working on, that we believe will benefit the local Singapore and Asian karting community. These will run parallel to the WSK programme and will be announced at a later date in the near future.

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Sponsoring a race series – the Singapore Karting Championship (SKC) – is just part of the holistic motorsports education and development plan that AutoInc has. The next big move that AutoInc announced on 16 December 2011 was its team – the AutoInc Racing Team – which will provide SKC sponsorship deals for seven drivers for 2012 – 2013. Each deal is reported to be worth around S$70,000 in hardware and software tools.

The seven selected drivers are:
1. Javier Chng (Cadet)
2. Jayden Jin De (Cadet)
3. Amin Noorzilan (Junior)
4. Manon Maistre (Junior)
5. Thaddeus Lee (Senior)
6. Gabriel Tan (Senior)
7. Paul Lee (Masters)

Javier Chng, Amin, Thaddeus and Paul are regular podium finishers, but Jayden and Manon are only doing their second full SKC season this year. Gabriel is a completely new name to the scene, making his rookie debut in karting with the SKC.

Benjamin Tan, managing director of AutoInc, commented, “Not all of our drivers will be quick to begin with. This is a two year project so pace will come. The project aims at building the marketing and commercial aspects of drivers, as well as profiles for the drivers too. This is on top of the technical side of driver development of course. We are excited and hope to contribute to Singapore motorsports so we’ll see. It’s important at AutoInc that we start developing drivers with a lot of focus and care. We think we’d like to give it a try as well as I have grown a big passion for motorsport over the last 18 months.”

The AutoInc Racing Team has been put together with several primary elements including a driver development programme, media exposure & training, driver profile development, professionalism, sports ethics, and sponsorship opportunities. Drivers will have regular guided test sessions as well as experienced race engineers and mechanics at SKC race weekends.

Other than being funded to race in the SKC, part of being in the AutoInc Racing Team includes single-seater opportunities at the Zhuhai International Circuit in late February 2012, as well as a chance at the end of each season to be sent for selection at the prestigious Toyota Formula 1 Driver Programme in Japan. Drivers that have graduated from the Toyota academy include Formula 1 Sauber driver Kamui Kobayashi and ex-Williams Formula 1 driver Kazuki Nakajima.
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Text and photos by Cheryl Tay

A week before he turned 18 years old, Gerald Tan competed in the Grand Final of the inaugural OCBC Corporate Karting Challenge 2011.

Part of the CTMC2! PDB Maddox Singapore Racing, the team raced in the second qualifying round – where they finished second – and had tremendous potential to win the Grand Final, but was unfortunately plagued by one penalty too many.

The Singapore Institute of Management (SIM) student is currently pursuing his diploma in management studies and owns a race kart which he hopes to compete with in the Singapore Karting Championship soon.

Q&A with Gerald Tan:

Q: How did you start karting?
A: I’ve always liked motorsports since I was young. I went to Kart World once, about three years ago, but that time I didn’t really like karting yet.

Q: So when was the turning point?
A: The passion only kicked in when I heard about a new karting track in Singapore (ie. Kartright Speedway) and I pestered my parents to buy me my own race kart. I started to participate in those fun races organised by KartingSingapore.com with the rental karts and the passion kicked in deeper.

Q: What do you like about racing?
A: The adrenalin and how competitive the sport is!

Q: How did it feel being the youngest driver in the OCBC Corporate Karting Challenge?
A: I feel special:) Although I was competing with seniors (ie. drivers older than me; some of which have a lot more experience in karting), I didn’t feel intimidated and was even faster than some of them! :p

Q: So what’s next for you in racing?
A: I wanted to race in the Singapore Karting Championship last year but the schedule clashed with my school examinations. I hope to compete this year and eventually kart to a further level, like on the international stage.

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