Malaysia
AAM Malaysian Karting Championships Rd4
The 4th round of the AAM Malaysian Karting Championship was held at the Sepang Karting Circuit last wekeend. Syazwan Mohd Noor took the 125 Open category win ahead of Tan Wei Ron and Mikko Nassi. Faris Anwar Redza was first in the cadet category followed by James Pull and Nicholas Eravelly. Muhammad Danial won the Juniors with Daniel Woodroof in 2nd and Shaqeer Haire in 3rd. Full results on MyLaps.
James Pull Clinches 2nd in Yamaha SL Cup
Singapore, 18 October 2010 – After seven months of hard battling, James Pull completes the 2010 Yamaha SL Cup Malaysia Series with a commendable overall second place in the Drivers’ Championship for the Cadet category. After five gruelling rounds, the 11-year-old Singapore-based cadet karter finishes his first ever Yamaha SL Cup season with former Formula One driver Alex Yoong’s kart racing team Axle BHPetrol Racing. Pull started the Series with tremendous success when he was the only driver to score a double win at round one, before making consistent progress throughout and never falling below second in the Championship.
Having qualified in second place, Pull got off the grid well in the first race and entered the first corner alongside pole-sitter and team-mate Daim Hishammudin. However, a knock from a driver behind edged Pull out of position and caused him to lose precious time. Pull regained second place quickly and remained in that position to the chequered flag.
In the second race, Pull started from seventh place due to the reverse grid rule and made his way through the field quickly. Unfortunately, just before he could reach the front of the pack, Pull got sandwiched between two drivers and his kart ended up spinning 180 degrees. With a bent axle, Pull was forced to retire from the race.
“It was a disappointing weekend as I would have liked a good fight for the title. Nonetheless, it’s a good finish to the Yamaha SL Cup series with my overall second place. My next focus is on the Asian Karting Open Championship (AKOC) where I am currently leading the Mini ROK category,” said Pull.
He added, “I’m happy for the team as well, with two solid Championship wins in Cadet and Senior. We will now start preparing for the next round of AKOC in Thailand next month.”
Pull has two more races to the season – Round 4 of AKOC in Thailand in November and Round 5 of AKOC in Macau in December.
This year, Pull has competed in the full season of Yamaha SL Cup and Asian Karting Open Championship as well as made guest appearances at Rotax Max Challenge (RMC) Malaysia Championship and the inaugural Singapore National Karting Championship.
He also headed to Italy at the end of summer for as part of his development programme and gained tremendous exposure through participation at a World Series Karting (WSK) Master Series race.
Rotax Asia and Malaysia Challenge Final Standings
The championships went down to the wire in almost all categories at the final rounds of the Rotax Malaysia Challenge and Rotax Asia Challenge last weekend at the Sepang Karting Circuit. Download the full points standings for the ASIA, and MALAYSIA challenges. Congratulations to all the championship winners and Grand Finals participants.
Mitchell Gilbert Impresses in Rd 1 of the WSK Master Series
Kosmic Kart Racing driver Mitchell Gilbert achieved a respectable fifth place finish in round one of the WSK Master Series in Siena, Italy between 26-29 August, despite suffering some engine troubles during the course of the weekend.
With fierce competition from 46 international competitors in the KF2 class, Mitchell was able to achieve two exceptional first place finishes during two of the weekends’ heats. An engine issue in the remaining heat left Mitchell with a twelfth place finish, putting the young Australian driver in seventh spot on the grid for the pre-final.
Starting from the dirty side of the track meant Mitchell was in a vulnerable position for the start of the pre-final, though he was able to gain one place through the course of the race finishing in sixth. Mitchell again performed well in the Siena final, gaining one position and finishing the race in fifth place, handing the 16 year old 19 valuable championship points. <--!more-->
Nabil is Youngest ever to Drive F1 Test
Updated with pictures from Dave Turner.
Malaysian driver Nabil Jeffri has become the youngest ever to drive an official F1 test, at 16 years old. Nabil did straight-line aero testing and pitstop practice for the Lotus F1 team at the Duxford Airfield.
"It's such an honour to have had this opportunity and it'll be a long time before the excitement wears off. I'll keep working hard to one day join Heikki, Fairuz, Jarno, and the rest of the F1 grid."
Nabil will now head to China for the next round of the Formula BMW Pacific championship to be held this weekend. He has still been active at Malaysian karting events this year as well. Congratulations Nabil - here's hoping you'll be in an F1 car again soon.
Read more about Nabil's test on Autosport.
Pictures By Dave Turner. View more pictures.
Rotax Malaysia & Asia Championship Standings
The 3rd and 4th rounds of the Rotax Asia Challenge and Rotax Malaysia Challenge respectively were held last weekend in Pekan, Malaysia. Download the latest championship standings for the ROTAX MALAYSIA CHALLENGE, and ROTAX ASIA CHALLENGE.
