This S’pore Junior Racer is 12 Years Old & Living Without His Parents In Italy


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When I was 12 years old, my favourite thing to do was to head to the canteen to buy fish fillet and ask for extra tartar sauce.

I even remember that it cost me 70 cents.

Won The German Karting Championships

12-year-old Singaporean Christian Ho’s favourite thing to do, on the other hand, is to participate in the Deutsche Kart Meisterschaft (DKM) German Karting Championships.

Image: Christian Ho Racing

He also happens to be pretty darn good at it – just two weeks ago he became the first Asian to win the title. This puts him on par with past champions like Formula 1 legendaries, Michael Schumacher and Sebastian Vettel.

And no, it wasn’t a fluke. According to The New Paper, in the Belgium leg in Genk, Christian clocked 13 min 51.042sec and 13:50.398 in the final races to win the first prize. And get this: he also topped the qualification round and heats.

Life In Italy Without His Parents

To pursue his dreams of being on the fast lane, he made the move to Italy in April 2018. Initially, his mother accompanied him in Italy and his father would make regular trips to visit them.

His mother soon returned to Singapore to give birth to the family’s second child, leaving him in Italy with his manager Imran Shaharom, 31, who stays with him and helps out around the house.

Besides, taking part in races on 28 weekends in a year, he also has to juggle his studies. A typical day begins at 7:00 a.m. for school, followed by gym (wow!) and homework before dinner.

In the past, he has had to miss three weeks of school. Luckily, the school he attends, International School Brescia provides support for athletes by making all his lessons and homework available online.

It also helps that his class only has two other students, so he receives sufficient attention from his teacher.

It hasn’t been easy for Christian or his family, but they’re looking forward to reuniting once Christian’s baby sister is a little older.

Improvements In Racing Results Since Move

Thankfully, all his efforts are paying off and he’s seeing results and improvements in his racing results. Last year, Christian only qualified for 3 final races out of around 20 races.

In February 2019, Christian finished as the highest-ranked Asian driver at the World Series Karting Super Masters Series in Adria, Italy.

In April 2019, he was the first Asian to achieve a podium finish in the Italian leg of the DKM.

And finally, earlier this month, he won the series’ Belgium leg.

Future Races

Image: Christian Ho Racing

Christian’s upcoming race includes the 5-8 Sept International Automobile Federation (FIA) Karting World Championships in Alaharma, Finland. He aims to clinch the top 6 in the junior category.


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His manager, Imran places high hopes on Christian and is confident in his ability to achieve his goal.

Needless to say, we can definitely expect much more from this budding athlete.

After all, the best is yet to come!