We Race Vitaly and Ho Pin at Sepang’s Go-Kart Circuit

From Left: Vitaly Petrov & Tung Ho Pin

With certain manufacturers such as BMW, Honda and Toyota having departed Formula One racing, we were almost certain that this year’s F1 event may not be as fun-filled as last year’s due to the recent global economic down-turn that heavily affect many car manufacturers.

Thankfully, Renault stayed in the sport was able to hook us up with a meet and greet session with Vitaly Petrov and Tung Ho Pin.

The main purpose of this session was to pit our skills against F1 talent. And in our cocky minds, we decided to lie to ourselves in that we’d stand a good chance in beating them. Optimism? I call this delusions of grandeur.

It was mid-morning and the sun began beating down upon us. We were separated into four groups where we’d take have 3 laps for practice and another 3 laps for qualifying, followed by a final 7 lap race for the top 10 karters who posted the best times. Admittedly, making it into the top 10 list wasn’t easy but placing 8th on the grid was good enough for me.

...unfair advantage!

To my surprise, it was a miniature version of Sepang’s circuit and to a bigger surprise, it was in reverse! Going counter clockwise was something unnatural to me, but needless to say, we were still “optimistic”. We were all going to put these F1 drivers to shame with some of our “local” talent!

The karts had 100cc 2-stroke engines with slick tires and electric starters. Once up to speed, they will throw you around in your seat, if it weren’t snug enough, around the corners. Having about half an inch on either side of my rib-cage, it was evident that I was unsettling the weight-balance of the kart due to my sudden weight shifts from left to right. Balance is tantamount in karting and needless to say, when the green flag was waved and the final session started, Vitaly and Ho Pin demonstrated their ability to manage the kart’s weight exceptionally, because we literally ate their dust.

Since the two F1 drivers were very much ahead of us all, they took the opportunity to have a good time goofing around by tailgating one another.

You Boys ready to go!?

By mid-day the session had ended and to say the least, it was certainly a smashing day with the drivers after having spun off countless times, having slight bruises on my ribs and especially a bruised ego to nurse back home.