The innovative and exciting BHPetrol's Race Ace 2 Go-Kart Challenge which was launched on 20th March was hugely popular with the members of the public. The series ended on a high note at Genting Highlands Outdoor Theme Park for the Grand Finals with 90 finalists vying for the top prizes. With the grand prize of RM30,000, RM20,000 for second and RM10,000 for third place, each heat attracted hundreds of entries which began in Shah Alam, Selangor followed by Heat 2 at Danga Bay, Johor Bahru and Heat 3 at Juru's Autocity in Penang.

Finally, the 90 finalists from around Malaysia who had qualified after competing in the three previous heats converged at the Genting Outdoor Theme Park, Genting Highland to pit against each other to determine who would become the BHPetrol Race Ace 2 Go-Kart Champion, and it was one of the most exciting Go-Kart races.

Each of these capable finalist were indeed eager to become the Champion and win the Grand Prize but there can only be one Champion for this and it belonged to Mr Lee Wei Chong who had to fend off two very determined competitors in the likes of Mr Law Boon Keat and  Encik Irwan Shahrin Ismail. In the end, these two winners were quite satisfied with their second and third place finishes and were hoping that their performances caught the attention of BHPetrol.iru1 Racing Team's Principal especially when they had to compete against thousands of other hopefuls.

"This has truly been a memorable day for me," said winner Mr. Lee, the Grand Prize winner of BHPetrol's Race Ace 2 Go-Kart Challenge. "I'm so happy and will use the money to buy new CRG karts from the race team. I've learned a lot from the competition and that this can only be good for national karting because of it's accessibility to the people. To me this is also a very prestigious competition and I would suggest to anyone  who are going into motorsports to start first by competing in this sort of event next time around," added a jubilant Lee.

The statistics for the BHPetrol's Race Ace 2 Go-Kart Challenge speaks volume on the success of the series. The event at the Shah Alam Stadium Go-Kart track, Selangor for Heat 1 attracted more than 1000 racing enthusiast, which was a record for the Malaysian go-karting history. These enthusiastic racing hopefuls did not disappoint too when the series visited Danga Bay in Johor Bahru for Heat 2 where more than 800 participants competed while Heat 3, again produced another large turnout in Autocity, Juru, Penang with some 700 participants competing for the Grand Finals.

Making their appearances at every round were BHPetrol.Iru1 Racing Team drivers along with Team Principal, Nik Iruwan Nik Izani to observe and identify potential young go-karters who could be drafted into the team in the future.
"The BHPetrol's Race Ace 2 Go-Kart Challenge is not just about speed," comments Nik Iruwan. "We also rate competitors for demonstrating some key attributes of expert driving like steering precision, throttle control, mechanical sympathy and track positioning.  We are also looking for smoothness and a receptive attitude and from what I can observe; some of these guys fits these description."

"As well as attracting competitors in huge numbers, the BHPetrol Race Ace 2 Go-Kart Challenge is sparking a lot of interest with BHPetrol products and our team from the general public which is a good branding exercise. This event also promotes karting in general while bringing it closer to the people of Malaysia," said Nik Iruwan referring to the success of the series.

At every weekend of BHPetrol's Race Ace 2 Go-Kart Challenge there was a carnival like atmosphere with a host of exciting games and activities for the entire family and visitors with lots of freebies and prizes up for grabs, courtesy of BHPetrol and its participating sponsors like Nestle, Revive and Fly FM. BHPetrol.Iru1 Racing Team also showcased their racing machines and presented some race demonstrations letting people have more understanding of professional karting which is usually the training ground for any aspiring F1 drivers.

With the success of this year's BHPetrol Race Ace 2 Go-Kart Challenge, BHPetrol and Iru1 Motorsports will be looking into organising another one again, and it would be even bigger next year with more attractive prizes to the participants.

For list of winners, click here.