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Asia looks to racing sensations
(China Daily)
Updated: 2006-02-16 07:46
SINGAPORE: With the Formula One season just weeks away, Michael Schumacher,
Fernando Alonso and their ilk are revving their engines in anticipation of
another lucrative, incident-packed season.
Tung Ho-pin (Dong Hebin) of
China | Ross Jamison will be closely following all the action, harbouring his own
grand plans to be on the starting grid among the elite in the not too distant
future.
Jamison, 15, is being touted as Asia's new racing sensation, having last year
won the senior title in the prestigious Asian Karting Open Championship, which
is raced throughout the Asia-Pacific. He also triumphed at the China Senior
Rotax Karting Championship in October.
For many of the biggest names in the business, the road to the top begins in
karts. Toyotas Jarno Trulli and Ralf Schumacher, BAR-Honda star Jenson Button
and McLarens Juan Pablo Montoya, all cut their teeth there.
While Jamison, a Hong Kong resident, is not yet knocking on Formula One's
door, many believe it is only a matter of time.
Peter Thomson, boss of Meritus Racing Team who discovered Jamison and has
handled many top drivers during their developmental phase including Takuma Sato
and David Coulthard, has a hunch that Asia could have star on its hands.
"If he gets the right support, hell be in Formula 1, no doubt. He has the
talent, the right image, even the looks, to go all the way to the top," he said.
This year Jamison has linked with Asia Racing Team (ART Motorsports) and will
switch to cars and drive the Formula Renault China season, which begins on March
11 in Shanghai.
He tested for the first time in Zhuhai, China last weekend.
If all goes to plan, the next stop will be Europe and Formula Three and, for
the elite few, a multi-millionaire lifestyle at Formula One.
"The sport has always fascinated me," said Jamison. "The
adrenalin and the winning feeling is amazing. I've been following Formula One
since I was four."
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