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SINGAPORE - Formula One racing fan Ashvin Sandhu has never missed watching a single race since she got hooked onto the motorsport four years ago.
And now it looks like her dedication has paid off, as she stands a chance of meeting her two favourite F1 racers, McLaren's Lewis Hamilton and Jensen Button, as the grand winner of this year's SingTel Grid Girls.
She was followed close behind by 21-year-old bank teller Emily Chia and 23-year-old recent graduate Esther Leong.
In second place was Chia, a lover of fast cars, and third place Leong, who says she thrives on the adrenaline of the race and extreme sports.
The three were crowned in a fierce fight among the final eight girls unveiled earlier this month from a pool of about 100 applicants.
Chosen by the public through Facebook and SMS voting, the trio will be holding the Singapore, F1 and Singapore GP flags while standing in front of the starting grid on race day on Sept 23.
This is the first time that the top three SingTel Grid Girls have been selected based purely on public SMS and online voting.
In a previous interview with my paper, Ashvin cited Hamilton's title-winning performance in 2008 as the reason for her support of the Briton and expressed desire to get an autograph from him.
She's not the only one who wants to get close to him. Fellow SingTel Grid Girls winner Chia is equally enamoured with Hamilton, whom she has said in media interviews shares the same birthday as her.
As for Leong, no competition there as her favourite F1 sportsman is Sebastian Vettel of Red Bull.
The grand finale roadshow also witnessed a line-up of the other champions for this race season, including Singapore's fastest electric go-kart race car driver and the top 10 fastest SingTel F1 simulator drivers.
In addition, the event saw the unveiling of the all-new FORMULA 1 SingTel Singapore Grand Prix trophy.
Roadshow goers were also treated to entertaining carnival activities such as race-themed balloon sculptures, a dynamic performance by Bloco Singapura drum crew, colourful stilt-walkers and a live screening of the Belgian Grand Prix in true high-definition and 3D.
Avid F1 fan crowned winner of SingTel Grid Girls 2012 Click on thumbnail to view. Story continues after photos. (Photos: SingTel, ST & myp) |
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SingTel unveils top eight SingTel Grid Girls for 2012 Click on thumbnail to view. (Photos: SingTel, myp, Azfar Hashim for AsiaOne, Dios Vincoy Jr for ST) |
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