Motormouth: Singaporeans in supercars are mostly unable to drive them properly

Many Singapore supercar owners have the machinery, but lack the driving skills to match its ultra-high performance potential.

[Story by guest columnist Say Kwee Neng]

I was at the Sepang International Circuit in Malaysia many years ago and watched as numerous Singapore-registered supercars zoomed around the circuit. 

I then noticed several seriously-modified Proton Sagas sharing the track with these Singapore supercars. And to my surprise, the Sagas weren't really left behind by the Ferraris and Porsches from Singapore.

I turned to my friend who’s a Malaysian motorsport enthusiast and asked him if my observations were accurate.

He smiled and nodded his head. "Singapore cars very fast in straight line, but Protons always overtake them in corners."

According to my knowledgeable friend, it is a well-known fact amongst the Sepang racing community that many Singaporean supercar owners had the machinery, but lacked the driving skills. As a result, superior Malaysian drivers in inferior vehicles were able to "makan" (Malay for "eat”, which means “beat” in this case) the faster and far fancier supercars on the track.

This thought came to my mind when I read about the horrific crash along Nicoll Highway on 2 March 2025. It also brought back memories of the equally sad and tragic crash at Tanjong Pagar that claimed the lives of five young men in 2021 on the second day of Chinese New Year. 

Unless you've been properly trained to handle a driving machine at high speeds, you will crash. It is not a prediction. It is logic.

That's because the g-forces, the "information" you're getting from the tyres and chassis, are all key inputs that you need to process rapidly in order to be able to control the powerful machine at high speeds. 

If you don't understand what the car is telling you, and how you, as a driver, need to respond and adapt to it, then you're no longer the driver. 

You're only along for the ride. 

You never fear and respect speed unless you've really experienced it on a proper racing circuit. It's there you realise how useless your road-going driving skills really are. It will humble you and make you know you can never be an Asian version of Lewis Hamilton. 

A racing circuit is also where you develop a healthy respect for what you can and cannot do on public roads where innocent lives are at stake. 

Several of my friends are good drivers. They seldom, if ever, drive fast on our public roads. Their reason? You can never predict what other road users will do. And that makes driving faster than the signposted speed limit on Singapore's tight and congested roads a very dangerous thing to do.

The organisers of Formula One strictly enforce a speed limit in the F1 pit lanes (which are narrow and often congested with machines, equipment and human lives), and F1 drivers such as Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton comply religiously.

If the world's best drivers know that even their immense driving skills cannot prevent an accident in such tight confines, I wonder what makes Singaporean drivers with speedy machinery think they can do one better than Max or Lewis on the streets of Singapore? 

It's the very definition of insanity. And it has to stop, for all our sakes.

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