Two Proton Satria Neo race-prepped cars numbered 27 for the boys and 18 for the ladies. Now that the stage was set, Red Bull’s ‘Battle of the Sexes’ was ready to to take on the gruelling 9 hour race at the S1K (Sepang 1,000km) last weekend, where the boys managed to outpace the ladies by 6 laps when the chequered flag fell.
The boys car (car 27) was piloted by Malaysians: Mark Darwin and Rezza Amir Ariff, as well as Singaporeans: A M Changaroth and Mathew Ng. As for the ladies, their car (car 18) was helmed by Siti Zirwatul from Brunei and Singaporean Melissa Huang.
With the boys coming out on top, they managed to take home the Grand Prize of RM10,000 after having completed 181 laps with an average time of 2mins 51s, while the ladies clocked an average lap of 3min 03s. The boys managed to place themselves 11th overall and but the ladies weren’t far behind at 13th.
However, this year, it was the young ladies that showed that that the gap from the boys was closing, having performed significantly better than their predecessors in the same programme that started some 6 years ago.
It was Singaporean, Melissa Huang – the anchor driver of the female team, managed to post her fastest time at 2mins 51s during qualifying while Siti Zirwatul from Brunei managed a time of 2mins 54s. Both of which managed to break the previous female rookie record of 2mins 59s. That certainly placed a large smile on Chief Trainer of the Red Bull Rookies, Kevin Low.
The Red Bull Rookies Programme is certainly one of the best platforms available to help young aspiring drivers gain some much needed motorsports experience to help them pursue their aspirations of becoming a professional racer – as according to what Jyn Wee, Executive Director of Red Bull Malaysia said.
It was this year that the programme sought out males to join in on the action and the search didn’t just include Malaysia, but Singapore and Brunei a well.
First there were 66 applicants who were initially chosen, where 16 contestants managed to filter through the elimination round that concluded at the Red Bull Rookies Track Day in July.
After which, the final four who made it though were able to join anchor drivers Mark Darwin and Melissa Huang for the S1K. Both Mark and Melissa were chosen as anchor drivers thanks to their aptitude as racers and leaders to help further develop the Red Bull Rookies Programme.
Once in the team, all six candidates subsequently underwent five torturous months of rigorous training to push their driving skills to a new level before taking on the challenging S1K race.
The drivers were evaluated on their basic driving skills, technical knowledge, personality and teamwork. Red Bull Malaysia, together with Asia Advanced Driving Academy has been working on the project, with the aim of putting together a group of race drivers to represent Red Bull. This marks the first time in six years that the Red Bull Rookies have fielded two teams who will compete against each other.
The Red Bull Rookies was formed in 2008, originally made up of passionate young women with an interest in motorsports. Upon its success, the Red Bull Rookies team expanded its search to Singapore and Brunei to find, fund and nurture aspiring driving talent by preparing them for Asia’s second biggest endurance competition – the S1K. The Red Bull Rookies’ racing apparel is sponsored by Alpine Stars, race communications equipment by Kenwood and the race cars were designed by Motorsport Playground.
