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10-year-old Jon Lee, suited up and ready to burn some rubber. Photo courtesy of Black Dog Racing
Singaporean Jon Lee secures a third place finish at the recent Red White Sangari International invitational Kart Prix held on the 21st & 22nd November 2009 at Sepang International Karting Circuit, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The 10 year-old raced amongst 33 drivers from 14 countries in the Micromax Series (12 years and below) to work his way to the podium.
The first of it’s kind and with intentions of becoming an annual event, the RED WHITE SANGARI KART PRIX is a one-make event featuring 3 categories (Senior, Junior & MicroMax) and substantial prize money ($4,000 USD for 1st). A total of 108 drivers representing 14 countries participated in this inaugural event with participants from as far as Brazil, Australia, Holland, Switzerland, Ireland and Japan including European Rotax Max Champion Martin Pierce. Joining them were representatives from all over Asia, eager to compete in this inaugural race. Black Dog Racing had a team of nine Singapore drivers participating in the event.
Jon Lee XuanHao, a student from Ngee Ann Primary and Black Dog Racing team member, participated in the race. The 10 year-old qualified 17th among 33 drivers in the Micromax Series (12 years & below) on Saturday. After finishing 7th & 11th in heat 1 & 2 respectively, Jon started the pre-finals in 9th & worked his way through the field to finish 6th for the Final.
As the race was about to start, it began raining and all teams scrambled to change their tyres to wet ones. Having raced and practised in the rain numerous times, Jon was confident he could achieve a podium position. Despite the difficult conditions Jon battled his way into second fighting to stay with the leader. His pace dropped off a little in the later stages of the race but he held on to 3rd despite a desperate last minute attempt by Muhommad Luqman Hakim of Malaysia. The race ended with Suhaizahrul Suhaizat from Malaysia in 1st 16:47.494s, Brazilian Guiliano Raucci in 2nd 16:47.638s & Jon Lee XuanHao grabbing the 3rd spot on the podium16:51.945s
“We are very proud of Jon’s achievement. Despite his young age, he is a very accomplished driver with experience beyond his years. This is just the beginning for him, go kart racing is where you learn the skills, from there he can move to single seater racing cars and hopefully Formula 1.” said Guy Ermer, Managing Director, Black Dog Racing.
By: Black Dog Racing
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