Singapore, start your engines…

TWO months before the Ferraris of Kimi Raikkonen and Felipe Massa roll into the F1 Paddock at Marina Bay for September’s SingTel Singapore Grand Prix, the pit building will play host to the Grand Finale of the K1 Karting Series.

Over 30,000 people are expected to show up for the event on July 26 and 27, with the races taking place on a 400m-track built over a segment of the F1 circuit. The ongoing K1 series has taken racing to the heartlands since September, with the remaining three stops before the Finale taking place in Queenstown this Sunday, Serangoon (July 5) and Marine Parade (July 13).

The K1 series is part of a larger effort to encourage motorsports in Singapore and is here to stay, said Senior Parliamentary Secretary for the Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports, and for the Ministry of Transport, Teo Ser Luck.

“This is just the starting phase of motorsports in Singapore,” said Teo, who is an advisor to the K1 karting series. “I’d like to see a Singaporean F1 driver some time in the future.”

Added the president of the K1 co-organisers Singapore Motor Sports Association (SMSA), Tan Teng Lip: “We want to promote motorsports in Singapore, and in bringing go-karting to the heartlands. We look to get youth interested and increase our talent pool.”

Supporting the push to promote motorsports as a serious sporting activity are Singapore Sports Council (SSC), who set up the motorosport industry development division nine months ago. Heading the division is deputy director Fan Chian Jen.

“The SSC are adopting a multi-pronged approach towards the holistic development of motorsports, aimed at creating a viable and sustainable eco-system for the motorsport business,” he said.

“This includes creating awareness, generating demand, education the public, getting the schools to participate, and providing a permanent venue at which all these created demand can be fulfilled.”