EVENT // RED WHITE SANGARI INVITATIONAL KART PRIX 2009

Red White Racing (RWR) of Indonesia, a go-karting promoter, in conjunction with Sangari, a Brazilian motorsport education institution, organized the inaugural Red White Sangari Invitational Kart Prix 2009 at the Sepang International Kart Circuit on the last 21st and 22nd November. The event featured more than 100 drivers from Europe, South America and Asia. The drivers were divided into 3 categories, Micro (8-12 years old), Junior (13-16 years old) and Senior (17 and above)... [read more]

Although i've been taking photos of track racing for the past few years, i've never had the opportunity to capture any karting events before. So when I arrived at the circuit, I didn't know what to expect. What interests me the most is the Micro category. The first sights that I saw was little kids with big crash helmets. But make no mistake about it, this is the cute and the furious! When it's time to hit the track for qualifying, these kids were going at it like mad. The sound of squealing tyres, opposite locks under braking and mid corner, and the speed they carried into the bends leaves me totally in awe! Surely, this can't be real, I told myself.

I still remember a conversation between me and my friend a while ago. He asked me a very simple question. What does Michael Schumacher, Tiger Woods, Michael Jordan and David Beckham have in common? Well, surely they have a lot in common, such as a very successful career, a great fan following and other stuff. But my friend just smiled at me and said, "they all started early". And surely enough, that's the most simple answer you could think of. They all started very early, at a very young age.

Karting is the most important platform that have been overlooked outside of Europe. This is why Europeans, and to a certain extent, South Americans produce the largest pool of talented racing drivers. But with efforts from promoters and sponsors like Red White Racing and Sangari, hopefully these younger generation of racing drivers will be able to compete with the best in the world in the future. And judging by this event, the signs are very promising.


As for the race, the Micro category was won by Suhaizarul Suhaizat from Malaysia ahead of Brazilian Giuliano Raucci. The Junior category was won by another Malaysian, Nabil Jan Al Jeffri after Australian Jaei Robson was disqualified due to technical infringement. Ireland's world champion Martin Pierce took victory in the Senior category despite all the efforts by Ryuichi Nara from Japan, who pushed him very hard until the chequered flag.

Photo/Editorial: Anas Zakaria