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Thursday, Apr 26, 2012
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F1 circuit for SKC to promote motorsports

Since the Singapore Karting Championship (SKC) started in 2010, it has been held only at Kartright Speedway, Singapore's only permanent karting facility.

But for this year's season, there will be new venues added to the five-round national karting series.

Rounds Two and Five will be held at the Formula One village, at the intersection of Republic Avenue and Republic Boulevard.

And there is the possibility of Round Four being held at Turns 21, 22 and 23 of the F1 street circuit at night, under the same lights used for F1 races.

Kenneth Yeo, SKC's general manager and series director, said: "It is always good to have more venues for the series.

Although the Changi Motorsport Hub didn't quite go according to plan, we looked at alternative ways to set up interesting race circuits for the SKC.

"The F1 circuit was the obvious choice."

Karting on the F1 track is not new; it was done previously by Richard Tan of Arina Hogan, the company that is in charge of setting up lights for the Singapore Grand Prix.

Local kart racers welcomed the addition of new venues.

Yuey Tan, the SKC ambassador who races in the Porsche Carrera Cup Asia series at the F1 circuit, said: "Having the race on a makeshift track would mean drivers not being able to have any training or practice prior to the race weekend.

"But professional race series often have drivers face different circuits, some of which are not accessible anytime during the season except for the race itself.

That would train the drivers' adaptability in learning new circuits quickly and will also place all drivers on an even playing field."

While there are other temporary places that the SKC can be held at - on private grounds or in carparks - one reason for taking the series to the F1 area is to raise the profile of motorsports in Singapore.

Yeo said: "Obviously, a more centralised location would help.

The commercial value of the SKC will grow, in turn attracting new sponsors to an exciting marketing platform and creating the motorsport industry from the grassroots."

As the commercial value of participating in the national karting series increases, registration costs for the SKC have increased from last year - from $50 more per round at Kartright Speedway to $100 more per round for those at the F1 village.

For example, a full season of the SKC last year for the Under-12 Cadet category was $1,250, at $275 per round. This year, however, it will be $325 for each round at Kartright Speedway and $375 for each of the rounds at F1 village.

These costs are only for participation and do not include the costs of tyres, transportation, tuning of the karts, training, race gear and mechanics.

More venues are also being explored for future SKC rounds, but there is a much bigger vision for the SKC.

Tan said: "The objective of the SKC is to become a selfsustaining business model of a race series in Singapore over three years. The trick is to stay afloat in a developing motorsport market so we are part of this development.

"The proven SKC formula can then be used for hosting race series in Singapore for years to come. Hence, the SKC is of massive importance as a structure to Singaporean motorsports now and in the future."


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  S'pore does sums before buying the next F1 ride
   
 
  F1 circuit for SKC to promote motorsports
   
 
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