The ceremony, which is the first of its kind in Vietnam, was organized by the Vietnam Motorsports Association (VMA) in collaboration with the Vietnamese Motorsports Association LLC – a member of the International Automobile Federation (FIA) – at the Formula 1 (F1) racetrack in Hanoi.
Thirty-two Vietnamese racers, including two teenage athletes, received the certificates for professional motorsport at the event.
Among them, three athletes — including the two teens — were honored with international-value certificates while the other 29, including three women, were given national certificates.
Notably, Pham Hoang Nam and Bui Duc Minh were awarded the C-type international certificates of go-kart, a type of open-wheel car or quadracycle, issued by the International Karting Commission (CIK) for young athletes between 12 and 15 years old.
Nam will represent Vietnam to compete at the 2020Â Karting Junior World Championship organized by CIK, which is set to consist of three races in Belgium and Italy from August to October.
The racing tournament is considered a launchpad for future F1 stars as the admission experts of the world-class F1 teams’ youth academies often go there to look for new talents, according to the Vietnam News Agency.
Meanwhile, the other 29 drivers had practiced and participated in many amateur races for a long time before qualifying for the Vietnam Auto Gymkhana Championship national motorkhana tournament held in Hanoi and the southern province of Binh Duong in December 2019.
Motorkhana is a low-cost form of motorsport, involving maneuvering a car through tight tests as quickly as possible – one car at a time – on either dirt or bitumen surfaces.
The motorsport awarding ceremony is planned to be organized annually in order for athletes of the sport to be trained, compete and develop talent in the management system of the National Sporting Authority so that their competition performances will be recorded and recognized.
VMA chairman Le Khac Hiep affirmed that certificates awarded at the ceremony will give drivers opportunities to compete for Vietnam in international races and get access to FIA competitions.
In addition to the main activities during Saturday’s awarding ceremony, the athletes were able to tour the F1 racetrack in Hanoi, where the F1 VinFast Vietnam Grand Prix 2020 – the inaugural F1 race in the Southeast Asian country – will take place.
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