S'pore youth could be in S'pore support race in 2008

A Singaporean teenager is set to make history at Singapore's first Formula One race next year. Mohamad Nasri Naufal is hoping to break into the Formula BMW series, which will be one of the support races for the Singapore Grand Prix. He is among a growing number of Singaporeans who are seriously looking at racing as a career. One of them, who has already gone pro, is Hafiz Koh. The 23-year-old is a professional race driver and has competed in the Formula V6 Championship this season. The rookie driver had a reasonable start, finishing 5th overall among 12 drivers. He even managed a podium finish in Chengdu in October, coming in second in the sprint race. "The whole year was a real roller coaster ride... they were trying to fit in what all these drivers had in their heads into me, within a few months, so it was a very big challenge for me," said Koh. Singapore's only motorsport racing team, TaraDTM, is owned by Koh's family, but he still has to bring in his own sponsorship funds to race. Koh intends to continue to compete in next year's race and hopes to make the cut for Formula One, one day. TaraDTM has already spotted another young talent – 19-year-old Mohammad Nasri, who recently took part in the ROK International Karting Finals in Italy. The teenager is now hoping to garner a S$50,000 scholarship from the Formula BMW series organisers when he goes for the BMW test series trials in Sepang next month. Mohammad Nasri said: "I'm very confident in getting the scholarship, and I hope that my parents, my friends and TaraDTM would be proud of me." If he clears the trials, he will get a chance to race in the Formula BMW series next year with the TaraDTM team. He may also get the rare opportunity to race in front of a home crowd at the support race for the Singapore F1 next September. Mohammad Nasri was at the airport on Tuesday to send off TaraDTM's Formula BMW driver, Zahir Ali. The 20-year-old won the driver championship this season, earning him a trip to Spain for the Formula BMW World Final, starting on 22 November. - CNA/so