INTERVIEW WITH JEREMY LEE

An interview with Master Category Class A Championship leader, Jeremy Lee.

Race Team: AutoInc Racing Age: 44 years old Occupation: 15hrs/7days workaholic

30 points ahead of the pack, Jeremy Lee from AutoInc Racing is the current leader of the Master category. The potential overall Champion is a jovial guy in person, a sharp and diligent driver on track. Let us check out his equally sharp answers to our Q&A.

Q: You are the leader on the board, how are you going to defend your position? A: The only way to stay on top is to train harder than everyone else. There is no substitute for hard work in anything we do. Train hard, race smarter.

Q: Has leading the championship changed your perspective of the race? How so? A: Not yet. At some point I may decide to race for the championship instead of the race win, but now is not the time. I still need points.

Q: What is your practice regime? And how does it help you during races? A: I practise 2 to 3 times a week. At the start of each practice, I try and get my carburettor right over the course of 10-15 laps. Then I concentrate on the right set up for the day’s track condition. That typically takes me another 30 mins. Once, that is done, I go for a few full race stints of 15-20 laps with 15mins rest in between. I will end the day’s practice with a longer stint of 25 laps to build endurance and stamina. On a typical 4 hour practise, I will do about 80 laps.

Q: What’s your winning formula? A: Practice and patience.

Q: Do you prefer to totally dominate or have a bit of fun? A: When I win, I almost always have fun. When I dominate and win fairly, I always have fun.

Q: Which driver (karting, Formula cars & etc) is your biggest influence on the track? Why? A: Too many. In Formula cars you have Senna, Schumacher, Vettel. In bikes you have Rossi. In DTM you have Schneider. Finally in our little home community of karting, you have my heroes like Thaddeus, Hong Yang, Amin, Randall, Alex Brown/Alex K…… They are all champions but they have a common trait. They are single minded; decisive; ruthless even.

Q: What advice do you have for the late bloomers (40years old and above) in karting? A: This probably applies to every new Karter. Practise often and learn the technical aspects of your kart. Understand threshold braking and carrying speed. Learn your carburetion early. Most important of all, learn patience. It is an irony but for a sport that emphasises so much on speed, karting has taught me how to be patient. Our reactions will never be as fast as the younglings, but we will always know how to race smarter.

If the Senior Class is a pool of fearless, hungry crocs vying for a piece of meat, the Master Class is a bunch of sophisticated crocs with hunting techniques. More actions at the next round of the X30 Challenge Singapore!