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Home-made racing car rolls onto starting grid
By Angela Hennersdorf (China Daily)
Updated: 2005-10-14 05:57
As Shanghai's International Circuit gears up for a weekend of F1 drama, a
company in the city has unveiled the first China-made open wheeled racing car
available to the country's motoring enthusiasts.
The "Formula 2000" car, produced by Vesta Motorsports Engineering (VME) in
Shanghai's Qingpu District, is the first racing car made in China to clock a top
speed of 280 kilometres per hour.
"Apart from the engine and the gearbox, we designed and built the car
completely in China," says Michael Lee, one of the company's founders.
Two Chinese nationals, Lee and Michael Kwan, together with their American
partner Brian Utt, founded the company more than a year ago in a
1,600-square-metre industrial unit. The first car will roll off their production
line this month.
"The motorsport market in China is not yet fully developed but there are more
and more young Chinese middle-class people who want to race and they are eager
to own a racing car," says Utt, a 40-year-old car designer and engineer who has
been working in the motorsport industry for nearly 20 years.
The first Formula 1 event in Shanghai last year raised Chinese interest in
amateur and semi-professional car racing, and with per capita income steadily
rising, amateur racing is now within reach for an increasing number of
petrol-heads.
At the moment there are only two racing competitions in China Formula Campus
and Formula Renault both organized by a private company based in Hong Kong with
racing tracks in Shanghai, Beijing and Zhuhai. There are just six races a year
and cars have to be imported from France.
But the 100 per cent import duty levied on the cars as they enter the country
makes them prohibitively expensive. "To be a member of these racing clubs costs
nearly 1 million yuan (US$123,300) per year," explains Michael Lee. It is a huge
figure especially when you consider that members do not even buy the cars but
can only rent them.
Because the cars Lee makes are produced in China, they do not carry the heavy
tax burden and retail at much lower prices.
"We compete in price," says Lee. "We offer the car at 280,000 yuan
(US$34,500) with another 100,000 yuan (US$12,330) for a season of six races.
With that offer we hope to make a great leap forward to push the motor industry
in China."
To fuel enthusiasm for racing, the company is planning its own Formula Vesta
Championships at the Shanghai Tianma Circuit with their racing cars, and three
customers have already signed up. Chang Chechung, a 38-year-old businessman, is
one race fan who has put his name on the dotted line. "To introduce real racing
cars at a reasonable price to China is a fantastic idea," says Chang.
Regardless of the many hurdles to building a race car in China, Utt believes
the country's motor industry is on the fast track of development even if he does
not expect to see an all-Chinese Formula One team any time soon.
(China Daily 10/14/2005 page3)
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