Teen driver has need for speed

Kim Jong-gyeom holds the trophy after winning a race in the 2007 CJ Super Race Formula 1800 class Aug. 26 at Everland Speedway in Yongin, Gyeonggi. Provided by KGTCR

Call him a speed racer.
Kim Jong-gyeom, 15, won a fourth-round car race in the 2007 CJ Super Race Formula 1800 division at Everland Speedway in Yongin, Gyeonggi on August 26.
His time was 31 minutes, 48.235 seconds. He was the youngest driver to win the race, but it wasn’t his first victory. In July he won a third-round race.
Formula 1800 is a division of the Super Race class with open wheel cars and engines restricted to 1.8 liters. The engine in the race cars must be sold in the domestic market and modifications are not allowed.
The Super Race has a 20-year history with four divisions: GT, Touring A, Touring B and Formula. With two wins under his belt, Kim hopes to compete in five more upcoming rounds.
Racing experts say Kim has a chance to win the Grand Prix, which will be given based on the results of all seven races.
Kim has 26 seasonal points and is leading Kim Ha-shik by seven points. The fast teenager, however, is too young to have a license for driving on public roads.
“He is only in his first year of high school,” said Kim Young-gwan, father of the young driver and a researcher at Ssangyong Motor.
“He is young, but he has the sense to move the machine as he desires.” The minimum age for a driver’s license is 18.
Jong-gyeom first got a taste for screeching tires and roaring engines when he was 10 at a go-kart park.
“I have watched my father race since I was a baby,” said Kim Jong-gyeom. “And one day he let me drive a kart. Kaboom! It made me tremble with joy.”
Jong-gyeom wanted to be a racer as soon as he knew what it felt like to drive at 200 kilometers (124 miles) per hour.
“My father welcomed my decision, but my mother was against it,” Kim said. “My mother said it was enough to have one family member involved in a dangerous sport.”
Kim Young-gwan, who makes his living analyzing cars and is his son’s mentor, is also a professional race car driver with more than 12 years of experience.
He is a four-time Grand Prix winner in the Touring A division of the Super Race class for cars with engines bigger than 2 liters.
Then fact that Kim Jong-gyeom is not qualified to drive automobiles on public roads has not held back his driving skills. He has been able to get plenty of practice without having to venture onto the Olympic Expressway.
In the summer of 2006, his father had him participate in the Toyota Racing School in Japan. After doing so, the younger Kim acquired a license from the Korea Automobile Racing Association for competing in races held in Korea.
At his debut race in September of last year, Jong-gyeom came in third ― fairly impressive for a 14-year-old.
Who does Jong-gyeom respect and admire as a professional racer? Superstar Michael Schumacher, the F1 Champion from Germany, is certainly on the list of racers whom Kim admires ― but after his own father.
“A lot of successful F1 racers start their careers at age 2 or 3 in go-karts,” Kim said. “Korea’s environment is still immature.”
Kim’s father is planning to send his son to Europe to learn more about racing after the son graduates from high school.

By Hwang Young-jin Staff Writer [yhwang@joongang.co.kr]