Senior Minister of State officially re-opened RCMC Marine Parade

While all attention was on the Singapore International Nitro Grand Prix marking the return of racing to the country’s only permanent track over the weekend, for the club behind the renewed RCMC Marine Parade track welcoming Senior Minster of State Mr. Goh Pei Ming to officially re-open the circuit was a significant occasion for the future of the club’s home.  With a certain Kimi Antonelli bringing world attention on the track when he did a few hours of 1:8 Nitro testing on the new asphalt ahead of the Singapore F1 Grand Prix, Sunday morning would see the Minister perform the official ribbon cutting to mark the track’s reopening.  Minister Pei Ming would also make a special presentation on behalf of the club to Kenji Taira owner of Infinity who have been the title sponsor of the Singapore International Nitro Grand Prix for many years.  The presentation was in recognition of Taira’s support & contribution to the club.  Following the presentation, the Minister then flagged off an exhibition race that included a starting grid of no less than 9-IFMAR World Champions!  With racing having become somewhat compromised by the development of key bumps in the track’s 12-year-old surface, the country’s RC Community came together to crowd fund the re-surfacing so as to safeguard the track’s future as not only a venue for local racer but also as a venue to put Singapore on the international RC racing calendar with races like the Singapore International Nitro Grand Prix and the Electric Singapore International Challenge (eSIC).  After a year off this year to allow for track work eSIC returns in 2027.  With funding of the new asphalt a project led by Daryl Thong, work on the track was started in mid June and took only a week to complete however behind the scene the fund raising took a huge effort and many months of work.  For his efforts, it was only fitting that Thong would be Race Director for the first race on the new surface and thanks to the new super smooth asphalt the weekend witnessed the track record tumble numerous times.