James Pull – a champion in the making

Contributed by Sneha Shankar and Cheryl Tay

James Pull, at first glance, seems to be an ordinary boy from an ordinary family based in Singapore. His father is an executive for an MNC, his mother is a homemaker, and he and his sisters study at the Tanglin Trust School. He enjoys reading Percy Jackson books, teasing and playing with his sisters, listening to rock music, and playing drums and guitar. He, like any other 11-year-old in Singapore, likes to hang out with friends and eat the street food Singapore is famous for.

Pretty normal, or so it seems.

James Pull wants to become a Formula One driver, and boy, is he doing everything he can to fulfill his ambition!.

Before James tried out go-karting, he thought engines were noisy. But after trying it for the first time at Kart World in Singapore at the age of eight in September 2008, he loved it so much that he didn’t want to get out of the kart.

Within three months, James moved on to competitive karting and made his debut at the Rotax Max Challenge Malaysia 2009 Round 1. That year, James went on to win the 2009 KKS AAM Malaysian Karting Championship (Formula C).

James, who sees Formula One driver Lewis Hamilton as his inspiration, shared: “My first race was in June 2009 at the age of nine. It was the KKS AAM Malaysian Karting Championship. My first race was also one of the most nerve-wracking moments in my life. It was held at the Sepang go-kart track, near the Malaysian F1 circuit. I was very nervous, but thereafter I got less and less nervous with each race.”

Today, James is packing quite a punch in the racing circuits. He is leading the cadet class in the Asian Karting Opening Championship 2010 (AKOC) and is currently second in the 2010 Yamaha SL Cup Malaysia (Cadet Class), where he was the only driver to score a double win in round one when he came in first for both races. In August, James headed to Italy for his first European karting experience where he participated in the World Series Karting (WSK) Master Series race at the Siena International Kart Circuit.

Taking part in such races is certainly no easy feat. While some people may let their thought wander, James is one who’s mind is totally focused on the race. He said, “At the beginning of the race and also during the race, I always think about how to get to the front and also make sure that I make no mistakes. If I start to get nervous, I will just start visualising myself racing round the track in my kart.”

Of course, go-karting certainly does not mean James does not spend time on other things. Some of the activities he enjoy doing like any 11-year-old include playing sports and computer games. Not forgetting the tasks of completing school work.

“I think racing is an awesome sport. I love the thrill, and I am lucky to have a supportive family,” said James. “My family comes along to my races and they give me a lot of support. We [also] go for family dinners regularly and I also do fun activities with my sisters, like surfing at Wavehouse Sentosa.”

Asia and motorsports is going fast, and growing fast. Go-karting is a growing sport among Asian youngsters, with Singapore proving to be “the” place for racing in Asia.

Looking at the opening of the casinos in Singapore and promotion of tourism by the Singapore government, the lack of glamour at the Singapore Grand Prix circuit will no longer be an issue. Another fact that Singapore has working in its favour regarding the growth in the Grand Prix sector is that many global corporations have their headquarters there. And with Singapore building a permanent motorsports hub in Changi, the industry will expand and the potential for companies to get involved, will pick up pace.