Fil-Brit defends karting crown in Singapore

MANILA, Philippines – Filipino-British Alex Brown successfully defended his racing title as he dominated the 2014 Singapore Cadet Championship in the Singapore Karting Championship series organized and promoted by the Singapore Motor Sports Association last month. 

It didn’t matter that the 11-year-old Singapore-based racer was unable to finish as he had already clinched the title after the pre-finals. He met an accident in the very wet final round that caused his chassis to bend but it was not enough for his challengers to steal the title away.

Nine-year-old rookie Alex Kattoulas, who struggled in the early rounds, came in second overall after taking the third, fourth and final rounds. But those victories were not enough to topple Brown as Kattoulas landed outside the top three in his first two races in the first round until he sneaked in the final race to take the last spot in the podium.

Brown was dominant except for the final races in Rounds 3 and 5 where he met accidents that caused him to lose valuable points in the overall championship. Nevertheless, those road bumps and the rise of Kattoulas made Brown’s victory even sweeter.

“It’s been a hard year with very strong competition but this is what makes racing enjoyable for me. And this is what makes winning the title for two years even more awesome,” said Brown, who dedicated the victory to his Filipina grandmother Ramona Dimaano.

The back-to-back champion was born to a Filipina mother, Tessa Dimaano Brown, who moved to Hong Kong after her graduate studies. She transferred to Singapore in 2000 to start her own market research company.  Alex’s father is a British national working in the banking industry in Singapore.

On top of winning his second straight title, Brown also held the record for the best lap time of the season.

Brown also participated in the 2014 Rotax Max Challenge series in Malaysia, which was attended by racers from all over Asia and placed 8th out of more than 30 racers in his rookie year. The 11-year-old racing prodigy is hell-bent on winning the championship in Malaysia when he joins the same series again next year as a fitting send-off before his debut on the world stage.

Brown is hoping to make an impressive debut in the World Karting Series in Italy next year as he continues to chase his dream of becoming the first Filipino F1 driver.