16 year old Filipino race driver Marlon Stockinger had his racing debut last weekend at the 2008 Malaysian F1 Grand Prix in a Formula BMW car, driving for team Eurasia Motorsport. The series supports the F1 events in Sepang , Singapore and Fuji, Japan. The conditions couldn't have been worse for his first ever car race. The heavens opened when the 14 cars were lined up on the starting grid and the track was awash by the time the lights went out for the start. “My qualifying didn't go so well, so I started on 10 th position. The spray from the other cars was so intense, I couldn't see a thing. Imagine driving at 200 km/h with your eyes closed! I never had experienced such conditions throughout my whole karting career. You literally have to keep a map of the track in your mind, otherwise you become completely disoriented”, said Stockinger. “It was quite a shock for me, since I just didn't know what to expect.” Indian Team mate Aditya Patel had a good start from 7 th place on the grid whilst Ross Jamison of Hong Kong, Simon Moss of South Africa and Sean McDonagh of Korea took the lead, leaving the others behind, struggling for visibility. Stockinger was at one point up to 7 th place, but faded to 10 th after a spin. Patel eventually overtook McDonagh and joined Jamison and Moss on the podium in 3 rd place. On Sunday the skies were clear and the conditions dry. “I had to start from 10 th place again, but this time I felt more at ease and started to enjoy the race and overtake some people. My lap times were at par with the front runners and we had some good racing going on. I have to work hard on my qualifying and driving technique, since most of the other drivers have already some racing experience in cars”, says Stockinger, ending the race in 8 th position overall and 3 rd in the Rookie Cup respectively. Moss, Jamison and McDonagh made the podium whereas Patel was forced to retire as a result of damage inflicted after he was punted into a spin at the first turn.
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