After the Rotax Invitational Race and the All Stars Karting Invitational Race, the Southeast Asian kart racing championship season finally starts with Round 1 of the Rotax Max Challenge and Asia Max Challenge in Malaysia. Held at PLUS Speedway on 18 and 19 February, the Singaporean contingent was a pretty decent one with 8 Singaporean drivers (not including the non-Singaporeans racing under the Singapore flag). Daim Hishammudin did Singapore proud with a second place finish in the Junior category, while the rest unfortunately faced issues with their karts.
MicroMax (13 drivers)
Josh Lee, Drakar Racing
Cute Josh was the only Singaporean in the under-12 MicroMax class which had 13 drivers and he bravely fought them all. This is Josh's second year in racing - will he be able to follow in the footsteps of his brother Jon Lee, two-time Singapore Karting Championship Cadet champ? No pressure!
Qualifying - 10th
Heat 1 - 11th
Heat 2 - 13th
Pre-Final - 9th
Final - 13th
Junior (34 drivers)
Daim Hishammudin, BHPetrol Racing
After botched chances of finishing at the top of the podium for the two pre-season invitational races, Daim bounced back and earned the front seat for the final. He lost the lead at the start and fought hard to try and get it back, but the winner was faster and Daim had to settle for second best that weekend. He said in his press release, "There was a chance for me to win the first round of the RMC and AMC series, but the race leader was quicker, especially on the straights and I tried my best to catch him. Nonetheless, finishing second is a good start to the season and there are five more rounds to go. The key is to be consistent throughout, so I will continue to work hard with the team to keep up the performance. Last year was my first time in the Junior category and I built quite a solid foundation. With that, I look forward to a better season with the team in my second year in Juniors."
Qualifying - 6th
Heat 1 - 3rd
Heat 2 - 2nd
Pre-Final - 1st
Final - 2nd
Amin Noorzilan, Simon Racing
Having showed lots of promise during the Rotax Invitational Race, Amin was eager to get back that pace but engine problems plagued him all weekend. On his Facebook status, Amin commented, "...Didn't have such a good weekend as I was faced with engine problems, but I would love to thank Simon Racing and all of the mechanics for trying very hard to fix the problem. Looking forward to my next race in March, RMC Round 2!"
Qualifying - 17th
Heat 1 - 18th
Heat 2 - DNF
Pre-Final - 17th
Final - 18th
Jon Lee, Drakar Racing
Having achieved a strong Cadet karting foundation with two consecutive national titles, Jon enters his first season of Juniors. Finding himself towards the back of the grid instead of the front where he usually is, Jon is aware of the road ahead and is prepared to work hard. In a recent interview on skc.sg, Jon said, "I have not been doing much training after the Asian Karting Open Championship Macau round last December. I will need to work on my stamina from now because the kart for Juniors is faster and heavier to drive. This year, in a new class, I think I need to work harder in order to win. For sure I will give my best."
Qualifying - 26th
Heat 1 - 20th
Heat 2 - 19th
Pre-Final - 20th
Final - 22nd
Ethan Goodman, Black Dog Racing
This is the lucky boy who got Michael Schumacher's autograph on his helmet when the seven-time Formula 1 world champion made his first public appearance in Singapore last September at a Mercedes-Benz event last September [read related story here]. Look closely at the photo above and you will see the signature just above the visor - I hope he has lacquered that! With random participation at the Singapore Karting Championship over the last two years, it's good to see Ethan on the track outside of Singapore.
Qualifying - 31st
Heat 1 - 25th
Heat 2 - 25th
Pre-Final - 23rd
Final - 28th
Senior (29 drivers)
Julien Fong, Simon Racing
Rushing up to Malaysia after booking out from camp on Friday night, Julien had to miss practice again. This time he even had to encounter a 2.5-hour flight delay on the way up. "Not a good race weekend, one to forget... Started well considering I didn't attend practice but pace just didn't get better and had some bad luck while fighting... Oh well.. quite a long way until my next race so just gonna take it easy and look forward to that :)" said Julien on Facebook. After taking the chequered flag, Julien had to pack up quickly and get back to Singapore on the 7pm flight so he can book in before 11pm - sweaty, sticky and all. Life as a full-time NSF is tough but serving the nation is not going to stop him from pursuing his passion. Thumbs up!
Qualifying - 11th
Heat 1 - 12th
Heat 2 - 22nd
Pre-Final - 15th
Final - 15th
Gary Koh, BHPetrol Racing
Working adult professional Gary is relatively unknown in the local racing world but he has been racing in RMC for about two years now with the same team as Daim.
Qualifying - 16th
Heat 1 - 16th
Heat 2 - 18th
Pre-Final - 17th
Final - 20th
Sean Hudspeth, IS Racing
The drivers of the IS Racing team had to chin up as they struggled with their karts - they were using old practice engines (some of which are more than a year old) as their new engines were stuck in customs. Keeping the sportsmanship spirit up, Sean did his best to maximise performance from the kart. He said, "Where to begin ... A really tough weekend from beginning to end for us and the team. We were struggling with chassis setup as well as engine problems.. Had a crash at the second last corner of the last lap of the final which meant we did not finish the race. Despite our problems I just want to thank IS Racing for the huge effort when we were trying to improve the overall setup. All I can say is that we have a lot of work to do for the next race... We should be testing as soon as possible :)"
Qualifying - 25th
Heat 1 - 18th
Heat 2 - 13th
Pre-Final -13th
Final - DNF
Other drivers racing under the Singapore flag (ie. their race licence is registered with the Singapore Motor Sport Association) are Rory Elliot (Junior) and Kenneth Smith (DD2).
The next round of RMC/AMC will be held on 17 and 18 March, back at the same place at PLUS Speedway in Subang.
View my photos here: