Up and coming local race car driver Kane Shepperd achieved a double success last weekend in the second round of the Formula 4 South East Asia and Formula Gulf Championship held at the Yas Marina circuit in Abu Dhabi. The Formula Gulf cars are lightweight single-seaters with a top speed of around 230kmh.
The 17 year-old Pattaya resident started by posting a very fast time in Friday qualifying and was over a second faster than his nearest rivals. In race one on Saturday, Shepperd led from the start and by the end of the 16 lap race had pulled out a 17 second lead over second placed Abdullah Beshara.
In the second race Kane got off to a slightly slower start and was beaten into the first corner by Abdullah, however he retook the lead on the sixth corner of the first lap and managed to open a 15 second lead by lap 10. Following a race incident on that lap involving two other drivers, the safety car was deployed until lap 14 which bunched the cars up, however when the safety car came in Shepperd managed to keep his lead and take his second well deserved win of the weekend.
With double success in Abu Dhabi the young Pattaya racer has now taken the lead in the championship standings with three race events to go in the season. The next round of the championship will take place from February 2-4 at the Sepang International Circuit in Malaysia.
