A total of 96 go-karters representing 15 nationalities from various walks of life competed in the finals of the Caltex National Karting Challenge 2007 held at East Coast Park on Sunday.

Emerging winners in the four age group categories were students, engineers, businessmen, managers and flight-attendants.

Above: Finding the right line to overtake

Organised by the NUS Motoring Club and Singapore Motor Sports Association with sponsorship by Caltex, the Caltex National Karting Challenge received an overwhelming response from about 500 individuals when registrations opened in August.

Participants then underwent testing for colour-blindness, a basic karting course for handling and safety aspects of the 7hp 160cc go-karts, and two qualifying sessions where the top 16 teams with the best times made it to Sunday's finals.

Above: Minister behind the wheel!

After a final round of races, the top three teams from each age group went on to receive winners' medals and either Timex watches or Caltex petrol vouchers for their achievements.

In addition to usual Guest-of-Honour formalities like flagging off races and giving away prizes, Mr S Iswaran, Minister of State for Trade and Industry also took to the tarmac in a 'Special Guests Friendly' with celebrities from AXN Asia and ESPN Star Sports.

Visibly enthused at his karting experience, Mr Iswaran said "I think motorsports fans have a very accessible way for doing this, because even though this is not as elaborate as an F1 event, it still has a lot of the thrills and the spills.

"And I think it's also very easy, because with the appropriate precautions, even people without driving licences can participate and have a lot of fun."

On the latest developments for Singapore's Formula One race next year, Mr Iswaran mentioned that the next step in the process - getting confirmation for holding a night race - should be forthcoming from the FIA by year's end.

APEX OF THEIR AGE-GROUP

AsiaOne chatted with the winners of Category B (19-25 years), Team Apex, which comprised of four young men who came together for this challenge only a month ago.

"It was great fun preparing for the competition. We met each other just a month ago. It has really helped us to get to know each other better," said 24-year-old Apex team-leader Melvin Teng.

To prepare for Sunday's race, the team made two trips to their Johor Bahru training base, where they spent a total of 40 minutes on a rain-swept track, prior to competing in Sunday's final.

The ace in the Apex pack according to his team mates, is Chen Zhonghan, who has five years of karting experience in places like the UK and the USA.

The 'Lewis Hamilton' fan humbly declined to be identified as the team's 'best racer', suggesting instead that all the team members had learned from, and helped each other in the process of racing together.

From left: Peh Jingpeng, Melvin Teng, Brandon Ong, Chen Zhonghan, all aged 24

On non-karting days, these National University of Singapore (NUS) and Singapore Institute of Management (SIM) undergrads can be seen zipping about in Honda Civics (Brendon and Melvin), a Mitsubishi Lancer (Jingpeng), and a Toyota Vios (Zhonghan).

Team Apex is already looking forward to defending their title, if Caltex and the other sponsors are keen on holding the event on a regular basis.

REGULAR FEATURE?

Ricky Lin, president of the NUS Motoring Club, is eager to make this an annual feature, but raising enough funds appears to be one of the key challenges in replicating this year's success.

"The NUS Motoring Club is a self-funded student society so we had to rely on sponsors' contributions to make this event possible," said the 25-year-old, who is also the Head of Karting at the Singapore Motor Sports Association.

About $320,000 was needed to manage and run the three-day event, with the bulk of the amount going to logistics and safety aspects.

MEDIA BATTLE

In a special event organised for members of the local media, AsiaOne sent its own daredevil drivers to do battle against 11 teams from other websites, newspapers and magazines.

Representing AsiaOne, were Raymond "Sparta!" Poon, Benjamin "Alonso" See, Jillyn "Raikkonen" Koh, and Julian "Motorman" Lim, who took turns powering Kart no. 3 around the 400 metre track.

Team AsiaOne (clockwise from top left): Jillyn, Ben, Raymond, & Julian

Teams were drawn into one of two races, and Team AsiaOne found itself up against the likes of Carbuyer, Lianhe Zaobao, The Business Times, Wealth Magazine, and Wheels Asia, in the second race of the day.

In a dramatic run which saw two teams disqualified, Team AsiaOne blazed through the remaining four teams with near reckless abandon to come in first in our session. Position, was not enough to guarantee a place on the podium though, as overall times clocked by each team would determine the final standings.

It turns out that we clocked 13 minutes 36.06 seconds, ahead of third-placed AXN, and behind the eventual champs from Oneshift.com.

The booty for the day: $750 in Caltex vouchers and a boot load of bragging rights.

Not quite what Lewis Hamilton will earn if he wins this year's F1 drivers' championship, but we'll take it!

Complete Listing of Results

Category A: 15-18 yrs old

1st: SPedyz GOnZaleZ
- Muhammad Ilyasa Pratama Bin Rosman, Jasper Lim Jin Hock, Tulaihatul Askdee Bin Johan, Muhammad Imran Bin Muhammad Zin

2nd: Killer Tofu
- Goh Yong Kai, Ong Ka Tat, Ong Yuan Hao, Joey, Samuel Lim Zigui

3rd: UG Force
- Muhammad Ridwan Bin Roslan, Muhammad Hafiz Bin Mohammad Noh, Muhammad Taufiq Bin Tahar, Muhammad Azri Bin Mohd Ali, Muhammad Alif Bin Buhari,

>> Category B: 19-25 yrs old

1st: Apex
- Peh Jingpeng, Chen Zhonghan, Teng Hua Gim Melvin, Brandon Ong

2nd: Flaming Tyres
- Quek Choon Shiong Shawn, Phua Weijie Kelvin, Sherman Ow, Wong Dik Hin Mathew

3rd: xgc-art
- Zhuang Jiacheng Marc, Tan Wei Yang Danny, Lee Kwan Wen Jarrod, Law Tao Wei Kenny, Chai Jialing Charlene

>> Category C: 26-35 yrs old

1st: Team IntegRa SG
- Chan Yee Ming, Wang Hui Han Binson, Chan Otomi, Teo Kay Wee Charles, Cheryl Ong Nyen Lyn

2nd: DMGE Speedsters
- Teoh Leng Hui, Pek Guan Tat, Tang Tian Cheng, See Woon Loon

3rd: DKKC
- Kenny Chua, Chester Chua, Desmond Tan Wun Ching, Khamil Hyder

>> Category D: 36 yrs old & above

1st: Viper
- Foo Yit San, Ho Hoi San, Anthony Tan Soon Kwang, Foo Wait Sung

2nd: Casper
- Teo Cheng Soon, Teo Thiam Hoe, Yap Chew Ming, Heng Ju Imm, Neo Cheng Hock

3rd: RWD
- Fairudzabadi Intidzam, Paul Ng Aik Por, Normi Bin Jahari, Steve Hung