He's a football fanatic as well as an avid Formula One fan.

But in less than two minutes yesterday, Alvin Koh, 25, emerged the winner of "the trip of a lifetime", as he calls it.

No, it isn't a trip to Old Trafford in England, home of his favourite football team, Manchester United.

Instead, it will be a trip to Europe later this year to challenge winners from other countries in a real car, on a real race track, under the guidance and tuition of motor racing experts.

All he had to do was strap himself into a full-sized Williams Formula One show car, fitted with a computer simulator, and tackle a customised circuit using the best chicanes, straights and corners from the current F1 circuits.

And he beat about 1,000 entrants from the public who took part in the Singapore leg of the RBS (Royal Bank of Scotland) Grand Prix Challenge - which started late last week - to emerge the champion at the final at the National Museum yesterday.

In the final face-off with two other finalists, Koh's best lap time of one minute 13.864 seconds was almost two seconds faster than his rivals.

He was even faster than current Formula One test drivers Alex Wurz and Narain Karthikeyan from the Williams team, who clocked 1:17.409 and 1:21.635 respectively.

Singapore is the second city so far to host the RBS Grand Prix Challenge after Sydney. The special simulator race will also travel to London, Tokyo and Hong Kong.

The winner in Sydney set a lap time of 1:11.047. Koh, a bank associate, said: "I've got some work to do, but I will try to do Singapore proud against the champions from these countries.

"I often play F1 simulator games on the computer, and I play with radio-controlled cars, so I guess that has helped my hand-eye coordination so far.

"But to get the chance to learn how to drive a real Formula One car on a real track ... how many people get to live out that dream?"

Alan Goodyear, RBS general manager and head of global banking and markets, South-east Asia, said: "The response to the RBS Grand Prix Challenge here in Singapore has been overwhelming. It's clear there is a big appetite for F1 racing in Singapore."

Koh added: "The recent speculation about Singapore and the chance to host an F1 Grand Prix street race has created a huge interest.

"I feel, though, that a permanent track may encourage potential youngsters to become full-time drivers like Alex and Narain." Karthikeyan, 30, told The New Paper: "It helps if the country has a representative in that sport at the very top levels.

"That has certainly been the case with me and India. But in Singapore's case, getting a street race for a start will be important in creating the interest at the ground level."

He noted: "I know there's a lot of buzz about a night race, but, really, a lot of work needs to go into it. First of all, the lights at night here come off in a yellow sheen, so a lot of extra floodlights are needed.

"The roads need work done on the manhole covers or they will fly up. Even details like the painted lines on the road have to be looked at.

"In a street circuit with barriers up, the sense of speed is high for the drivers but the margin for error is small.

"I think circuits like Monaco can provide the best tips for these kind of needs, and the FIA (F1's world ruling body) will surely give Singapore the best technical advice it can, if it does award the race here."

Could F1 test drivers like Karthikeyan and Wurz play a role then, in testing various aspects of a night race on a street circuit as well as a proper race track since that is the latest proposed idea from F1 authorities, for countries in this region?

Karthikeyan replied: "Testing will be very crucial for this idea, and driver input will be important. But I don't know if all the F1 test drivers could be drafted into a special programme outside of their own team duties.

"Again, this is pretty much new ground for everyone.

"But, for sure, there will be no question of fitting headlights on an F1 car," he added with a laugh.

As a parting shot, Koh gave his predictions for his two favourite sports.

"This year fancies the teams in red. Manchester United should win the English Premier League title, and the 2007 F1 champion will be Ferrari's Kimi Raikonnen."