Thailand race: Dancing in the rain!!

I love to drive on water... it is probably like driving on snow and ice in Canada...

Whatever the reason, I feel good when it rain.

What will I do next year??

My Asian carreer is probably finished now. I need to move on to Europe and to source the proper training and racing team.

We are contemplating many options in that regard.

The most probable is with a group related to Maranello, in Italy. My problem is that I am one year too young to race in KF3 but I am getting quite big to race in the MiniRok.

The team we are discussing with offered us to give me one year of practice and racing in England, where the regulations autorise racers of 12 years old in KF3. As I will be 12 next may, this may be a solution until I go to Italy and Spain the following year.

In England I would be surronded by a nutritionist, a physical trainer, a driving teacher, a mechanic, a team manager and a data specialist.

This is a big decision as we love to live in Singapore but this is very far for me to go to Europe twice a month. So, we are thinking now... what can we do and how can we do it? I love my school here in Singapore and my mom love the country as a whole. Too bad Singapore does not yet have a competitive race track for Karters.

Nico Rosberg

Hey guys!

Christian is the latest fan (and also has the newest fan picture) on Nico Rosberg's Facebook fanclub!

Cheers!

Mel

Trip to Jakarta - Indonesia

Hey Guys!

I didn’t have the pleasure to make the trip to Jakarta for the kart race… but never the less a very good photographer was on site taking beautiful shots of our favorite little driver!

So here are a few shots (which were sent to me by mon Oncle Charles) of Christian! They are really bright and colorful which is beautiful to see!

To check out more please see Singapore Racing Team’s group on Facebook!

Cheers!

-Melanie

PODIUM

Hey Guys!

Christian made it on the PODIUM! Yes you heard me! He got on the podium!

*dances around*

He placed 5^th for his category which put him on the podium with

Cheers!

PODIUM!

Hey guys!

Christian has been karting in Jakarta for some time now and he has been practicing and racing! Uncle Charles sent me some pictures (since I was unable to do the “epic tale” version like I did last time.. with 2 000 pictures plus!)

So he placed FIFTH! Which means a place on the podium WOOOHOOOO!! I am guessing it’s the result of a lot of practice and hard work!

Cheers!

-Melanie

Jakarta Race

Hey guys!

The race is tomorrow!! Wish Christian some luck!

-Melanie

Sentul Track - Indonesia

Hey guys!

Someone should thank the guy who came up with Wikipedia. It's brilliant and I love it to bits. What does it have to do with today's post you ask? Well here's a little bit of Wikipedia magic...

History

The first serious attempt outside Japan of constructing a Formula One circuit in Asia came in Indonesia around 1990 when Hutomo Mandala Putra, son of president Suharto, was behind the construction of a track at Sentul. At 4.12 km, the Sentul International Circuit was supposed to be Indonesia's Formula One showcase to the world, until the 1997 Asian financial crisis kicked in. Completed in 1994, the facility has been overcome by technological changes, making it unsuitable to the fast and furious world of Formula One. But it was fine for the drivers competing in the 4th leg of the Pertamina Fastron Asian Formula 3 Super Series.

Track description

• Track length : 4.12 km (2.56 miles)
• Width : 15 m
• Longest straight : 900 m
• FIA Grade 2 track license
• 50 Pit garages
• 2 covered grandstands

So this is where Christian will be practicing and racing on Sunday! Cheer him on! We also added the event to our Facebook group


- Melanie

Confucius

My ancestors Confucius Villeneuve once said:

A Karter who races behind me will get exhausted... and a Karter who races in front of me will simply get tiered!

-Christan

Photograhs part 2

Hey guys!

Photos!

Here's part two.. i've uploaded yet more pictures of Manila..

I realised I took about 2000 photos in Manila. Both on the track and off the track... I can obviously not post them all here, so I have created a Flickr stream as well as posted most of them on Facebook! So keep an eye out, more will be coming daily!

There are many pictures of Christian, but there are also some of other racers. Some on dry track and some in the rain. Some at full speed and some at full stop!

I hope you enjoy them as much as I do. It was a great (yet arduous) couple of days. Waking up early was the worst... after the gas and the sun. Hehe.



Cheers!

- Melanie

Wild Card

Hey guys!

We got some very exciting news today! Christian was selected by AKOC to be part of the ROK World Championship to be held in Italy at the end of the season.

Cheers,

Melanie



Here is the original message from Christian:

________________________________________________________________

We were informed today that after the AKOC 2nd Round I was within the DRIVERS who will participate in the ROK WORLD FINALS in South Garda, Italy to be held on Oct. 15-19, 2008.

I. 2008 AKOC SERIES:

A. MINI ROK

1.WILD CARD DRIVER -

1. ANDY CHANG WING CHUNG - Macau

2. CHRISTIAN VILLENUEVE - Singapore

B. ROK JUNIOR

1. WILD CARD DRIVER - SENNA SULAIMAN NOOR - Indonesia

C. ROK SENIOR

1. WILD CARD DRIVER - JONATHAN REVEILLE -

II. PHILIPPINE NATIONAL SERIES

A. MINIROK

1. WILD CARD DRIVERS - 1. ANONIO CARCEL

2. FRANCO REYES

B. ROK JUNIOR

1. WILD CARD DRIVERS - 1. RENZ PAZCOGUIN

- 2. ANDRES CALMA

Jakarta Race

10 days until Jakarta Race!

The countdown begins...

My nerves are starting to twitch..

DRUM ROLL!!

- Christian

Featured Driver : Suriya Blakerisnan

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Suriya is a friend of Christian who also races Karts. He is from Singapore as well, and I got a chance to take some photographs of him at the Manila race!

Where can you find out more about Suriya? He has a blog as well named “Suriya Online” where he blogs mostly about Kart related things.. such as races, event and such. He is also part of the Singapore Racing Team group on Facebook … Check it out when you have a minute!

Wish him luck as he has had some bad luck in the last couple of races..

He says so himself on his blog: "I had really alot of bad luck for the past 2 races. I did not finish in the places where i used to finish. The engine in manila was not strong enough to challenge the fast drivers."


You can see more shots on the SRT Photostream as well!

- Cheers!

Melanie

Photographs!

Hey guys!

Photos!

I realised I took about 2000 photos in Manila. Both on the track and off the track... I can obviously not post them all here, so I have created a Flickr stream as well as posted most of them on Facebook! So keep an eye out, more will be coming daily!

There are many pictures of Christian, but there are also some of other racers. Some on dry track and some in the rain. Some at full speed and some at full stop!

I hope you enjoy them as much as I do. It was a great (yet arduous) couple of days. Waking up early was the worst... after the gas and the sun. Hehe.


Karting is hard work!

If ever you think Karting is not a serious sport, you should see all the racers up and running at 6am and not back until late PM from the track. Spending the whole day racing and fixing mechanical issues. Its more work than it looks like trust me!

Cheers!

- Melanie

Taking a look back...

Analysing the driving...

Dad measured each and every one of my laps and studied my driving in each curves with the thousands of pictures Melanie took. Then told me my driving was great. I turn where I had to and I cut inside where I should in at least 97% of the time, but, we still end up 6^th on 12.

Then Dad tried to explain to me that I need to learn to COMPETE... because I already know how to drive.
If a driver is OK but is strong competitor he can win... but being an excellent driver does not compensate for my lack of competitor spirit.


Next time...

I am confident we will do better next time. I received a great support from my sponsors and from my whole team and from you, my friends and fans. This is what really counts. I will do my best not to disappoint you next time.

Indonesia HERE I COME! *drum roll* ...

Can't Win 'Em All...

Position !

First race I ever do outside of Singapore, and I got 6^th position. I’m frustrated, but do you reckon that’s normal?

After all the energy everyone invested for this race, we were all a little frustrated with a 6^th position I got on Sunday for the Final in Manila - Philippines.

Even if I had the second fastest time for both Qualifications Q1 and Q2, I did not manage to maintain this position at the start of the pre-final and for the final.

Reasons!

The kart itself had troubles on Sunday due to climatic changes from extremely hot to rainy and cold. So I had to get the mechanics to do as best they could. They DID! But the engine was not responding at all for the first 2 laps... so I had to work very hard to maintain my presence on the track.

My lack of racing experience certainly did not help either. I felt more stressed then I should have... but it’s all a learning experience. So I have to try and see the bright side!

(Post Manila) Driving in the rain!

Driving on water was something completely new to me. As if I needed more new experiences this weekend... Gosh! Then everyone started rushing around to get rain suits, umbrellas and capes.. In Singapore the race would have been canceled ... but not HERE!


How it feels?

Karting on water is probably a mix between Jet Skiing in the Bahamas and driving a car on a race track... quite a feeling!! I needed to drive fast enough to overtake the other racers but not too fast in order not to spin out! Staying on the track is mandatory!! :P

Sensei Said:

Dad explained to me that I need to take the curves a little bit larger and that I need to start slow and accelerate gradually until I feel I am losing control.

I managed to get the correct driving after a few laps and I have to say that it is finally quite fun... but I will need to practice this a little bit more...

Best Time!

I am still a lot faster on a dry track... hehe ... No way can I do 48.50 on a wet track!!


Cheers!

-Christian

(Post Manila) Experience comes at a price…

This weekend I learned several things...

Mechanics!

First off, kart racing requires some very good and experienced mechanics. Each kart can be tuned to go faster under certain conditions like temperature, humidity, the driver’s habits and preferences. Any adjustment then needs to be tested before we know if it actually enhanced the performance or if it makes the kart slower.

Synergy!

It is this comprehension between the driver and the mechanic which makes a successful team. This was my first race in the AKOC series, and we learnt to work together fast, but there are still many more tests to make before we reach perfection.

We will be trailing in the next weeks, probably in Indonesia! This should help our team get better results in the future!

Cheers!

-Christian

Saturday Qualifications in Manila

Saturday at the track was quite a day. Many things happen quite quickly...

Wipe Out!

There were a few wipe-outs on the track yesterday, and ONE ambulance rescue. There is a lot of hearsay about what actually happened but here is what I saw. A guy... on the ground with medics all around him! It was quite frightening! And then, they whisked him away to the hospital... only for him to reappear an hour later and race again!



Race Me!

So Christian got to race / practice / tweak his performance and learn new things over 7 periods of time on the track. I manage to get some good Kart shots, some racing shots and some stills. Here are a few!



Cheers!

-Melanie

Karting in Manila (practice)

Pictures from practice!

Enjoy..

-Melanie

Charles giving Christian instructions of some sort or another...

Our very own number 81!!

Leading the way... drumm roll!!

A happy dad (this is the .2368530 seconds where he wasn't nervous or stressed!)

More instructions from the Godfather!

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In the mean time..

Here are a few more pictures of Christian and Charles at Kart World while you wait for the Manila Race pictures!

Cheers

- Melanie

Christian telling Charles he can go on ahead.. what kind of race is this? haha.

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A Day at the Manila Track

Hey guys!

Wow! These guys here are fast! Some of them have been driving on this track their ENTIRE life!
It OK though, since I have made some good progress. I took the time to walk the whole track with the Race Manager and my Dad. I looked at every single meter while walking it and we analysed ever turn. Break here. Accelerate here. Ok ...LETS GO!

So I managed to reduce my lap time from 53 to 49.9! I think the best time on this track is 49 flat... so it’s NOT SO BAD! Hehhe...

I will be in the 4 best racers today I think. I will still work hard with dad and with the mechanics though.. I cannot get too confident.

It is a great experience. I LOVE it!

-Christian

Hey guys!

Karting as you may have noticed this far is an adrenaline pumping, gasoline gusseling, as-fast-as-you-can motor sport.. and it seems to run in the Villeneuve blood.

So here are more updates from our neck of the woods!

New Helmet!

Yesterday I got an E-mail from Maria ( the graphic designer we work with ) and she sent us an attachment of Christian's soon to be helmet! I have to say that, as always, Maria has done a WONDERFUL job in representing us.

As you can see, our sponsors are beautifully represented and it all works in harmonious way. I really dont know how she does it but she pulls it off every time.

Cheers!

- Melanie

Karting Race In Manila - Philippines

Today we are Tuesday and tomorrow we are leaving for Manila – Philippines for the weekend kart race. We are leaving this early because Christian needs to train for a while before the actual race!

The race is on Sunday, and the qualifications on Saturday... hopefully I will have some good shots for you when I come back.

Hopefully some of the Singapore racers will qualify and place well in the races! Break a leg!!

We posted the event on our Facebook Group!

Cheers!

- Melanie

ps. image supplied by google maps!

Nervous for Manila Race

Hey Guys!

I hope everything goes well for me in the Manila race!

I also hope nothing bad happens to the Kart I am using, like it happened to Liam’s in Europe. His engine seized, can you imagine? I would have felt really ANGRY!

There are things you don’t want to be doing, especially on your first race and crashing is one of them! My goal for that race is to try my best and I will be happy even if I don’t win.

So guys… wish me good luck!


-Christian

Last Week's Practice

Last week’s practice went very well!

A new record time!

It went well because I got my new personal record at Kart World. YESS!!! I was SOOO happy with my record. I managed to do 25.38 seconds!

Maybe one day I will beat Opai's record of 24.70...

Let's RACE!

So in any case, the practice went well and I had fun with my friends. They held a mini race at Kart World that day although I couldn’t take part in it because it was a robin engine race only and I was using a Junior Rok. Too bad!

Even if I couldn’t take part in the race it was a very good day for me.

That's it for now!

-Christian

Kart News

Looks like we are getting some new t-shirts!

The man came by yesterday to meet with Uncle Charles in order to discuss the new layouts for the new karting t-shirts. We are slightly changing the disposition and the logos used.

The new t-shirts will include RBS, MF Global as well as the Singapore Racing Team Logos. We are glad to have these sponsors on board for this seasons racing, since without them it would obviously be much more difficult. Thanks you guys!

So the new T-Shirts should be here on Monday, in time for us to use them for the Manila Race! It’s coming up fast and I think our very own racer (Christian) is getting jittery!

The Kart

Christian’s Kart is also getting a makeover. Since RBS came on, they have added their logo to the kart decals! It should be quite nice!

We have to put these stickers on once we get to Manila. It’s going to involve water and dishwashing soap. Why? Because you need to be able to move them around a bit after the stickers have been put on the kart. So the soap allows us some slippery time before the glue sets.

That’s it for now!

Cheers!

-Melanie


Thanks to:

Saturday’s Karting Experience

Hey Guys!

I am Christian's cousin and I will also keep you up to date on some of the Kart Racing extravaganza!

Photos on Saturday

Here are a couple of pictures I managed to take while Christian and Uncle Charles were practicing at Kart World last weekend. It was the first time I went with them to the Singapore track and I have to say I was quite impressed with the young racing talent and the not so young as well!

The Track

There is a form of respect that you no longer see on the racing track. Everyone understands that they are part of a community and all are friendly. I showed up there with my cousin and my uncle and no one asked any questions because they had never seen me before. Everyone is serious yet everyone is smiling. I think more people should know about the Karting community in Singapore.

The C. Villeneuves Racers

The Father & Son bond seems to be quite strong on the track! It was really nice to see the friendly competition between both racers.

The rest of the photos can be seen in my Flickr Photostreem!!


- Melanie

Lost A Wheel At Kart World

Last Saturday, while practice racing at Kart World my wheel became super hungry. So I am halfway through a lap and my wheel decides to fly off and goes in the direction of McDonalds! I guess it wanted a cheese burger or something.

So my kart started skidding and spinning. After that we checked my kart to see why it flew off in the first place and it was because the bolts were loose. Next we realized that the sprocket was bent and the chain was worn from spinning after losing my wheel. Jeese! What else can go wrong!!

This was the first time it happened to me and it was quite scary to think I was going to flip! But in the end no one got hurt, so it was funny!

You can also see this picture on a facebook group I am part of called Singapore Racing Team. Go check it out!


- Christian