Jenson Button is the 2009 F1 World Champion! WOOT!

Okay. I know it's old news but don't you love it when an underdog wins? I certainly do. I love it when the upset happens in sport - any kind of sport. But more so when it involves motor racing. In the context of F1, teams with big budgets (read: Ferrari and McLaren) outperform the poorer teams 99.99% of the time. So, Jenson's win, and Brawn GP's meteoric rise from the ashes, will warm the hearts of underdogs everywhere.

Speaking of underdogs, next year, a Singaporean race driver has put himself in the cauldron of what is one of the world's toughest GT race series - the Super GT.

Those who know Melvin Choo will disagree with my use of the term "underdog" but I am going to stand firm - he may have raced professionally many times including two rounds at last year's FIA World Touring Car Championship but his new challenge is different.

This is his first foray into a highly-competitve race series where all of the races, except one, is held in Japan and he has never raced on most of the circuits. Adding to his task will be his competitors - he will be racing in the GT300 class which includes many of Japan's best race drivers including Nobuteru Taniguchi and Manabu Orido. Coincidentally, Melvin has raced against both of them before and they were faster.

On the bright side, he has always relished a challenge and he does have a fantastic racecar which has already proven itself to be more than a match for the other GT300 machines - his Mosler MT900. Melvin raced a MT900 at the Merdeka Millenium Endurance Race and at the Malaysian round of the Super GT where he was an invitational entry.

And he acquitted himself well in both races where he even led at some point.

He will be racing in a less powerful version of the MT900 for the 2010 Super GT as the regulations cap the power of the car to 'just' 300bhp. However, his racecar will be fitted with a myriad of wings and diffusers which will endow it with tremendous amounts of downforce.

Whatever the outcome, I do know that Melvin will give it his all and I would like to wish him all the best. Take the knocks, endure the bangs, and come out fighting - do it for Singapore, Melvin!

As for me, if everything falls into place, I will also have the chance to adorn the "underdog" tag next year. I will say no more for now but here's a hint.

Have a great, motorsports-filled 2010 - Happy New Year!

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