About Kartright Speedway
Dreams do come true, if you want it bad enough. Kartright Speedway is the creation of Jude P. Benny and Allan Teo, two men who overcame all odds to bring you what kart enthusiasts in Singapore have been looking forward to.
It used to be a golf driving range where the seasoned hone their craft and the amateurs make trying swings. All that has gone - along with the grass, the litter of white golf balls as well as the floodlights - and in its place today stands Kartright Speedway, Singapore's newest and finest permanent competition-length go-karting facility.
Located at 511 Upper Jurong Road (opposite SAFTI, PIE exit Upper Jurong), it directly replaced what was formerly the golf driving range next to Arena Country Club.
Five months was all it took for the 750-metre-long and 7-metre-wide technically-challenging kart racing track to be built. But beyond those five months was years of struggle, disappointment and eventually triumph that gave birth to the existence of Kartright Speedway.
It was a dream of two men, who were long into the sport, both competitively and also at a management level when they were serving key roles in the now-defunct Karting Club Singapore (KCS).
Jude Benny, Chairman of KCS in 1993 and Allan Teo, former secretary of KCS started their quest for a suitable plot of land to build a proper go-kart track that our nation so needed.
Formula 1 came to our streets and made history as the first ever F1 night race, but still there wasn't a competitive karting track until Kartright Speedway first opened its doors to the public on 1 October 2009.
Jude and Allan nearly met success when they found a place at Jalan Bahar. Work was about to commence in full swing when an unfortunate turn of events regarding regulatory approvals derailed the project.
Having gone one full circle, the duo restarted their quest and continued searching for a suitable place. Finally, like a blessing in disguise, they learnt of the driving range at Arena Country Club that had closed down after its lease was not renewed.
Two million dollars and lots of paperwork after, Kartright Speedway held its official grand opening on 9 January 2010, with the occasion graced by Oon Jin Teik, CEO of the Singapore Sports Council.
Retaining the former driving range's structure, the previous two-tier building has since been transformed into a pit building with corporate function rooms and a viewing gallery on the second level.
Having replaced all previous lights with 56 new lights - 46 are 1,000-watt and 11 are 2,000-watt - across 20 lighting poles, night karting is offered and a pro kart shop is housed on the premises, along with storage facilities that come with maintenance of karts.
Kartright Speedway has made it, after all the toil and struggles. Said Jude, "Allan and I are in the winter of our racing years and the future of karting is in the hands of the young drivers. Realising this dream of a permanent kart racing track is the best gift that us two veteran karters can give to the next generation of drivers. It is our contribution to the sport which we are so passionate about."
