Across all of the Virtual series, ranging from every tier, there have been very few drivers from either of the Korea's, with little of them being successful. But it all changed in the 2023 Virtual Oceania-Asia Racing Series (Or the VOARS for short, a Tier 3 series) a 18 year old boy from the city of Goyang, South Korea, in the most populous province of Gyeonggi, and is apart of the Seoul Capital Area, making it one of Seoul's satellite cities. Born Kim Sung-moon on the 23rd November 2004 in Goyang, Gyeonggi, South Korea. He began karting at the age of six, as he tells FVAsia (The Asian Broadcaster of Formula Virtual and it's local Feeder Series, VOARS which he is competing in this season.) that he felt that he was naturally gifted at the sport after he set a blistering lap time at his local indoor kart track. After a few years of casually karting in indoor and outdoor circuits, and taking part in the odd club race, he finally began professionally karting at the age of ten, where he won various local championships in his province and region, he won the South Korean Karting Championship three times: one time in the Mini class in 2015, and two in the Junior class in 2017 and 2018. In 2019, he began racing outside of his home country, in the Virtual Australian Karting Championship in the VKJ category, where he made an unimpressive first season, coming in 32nd, with little points. 2020 was what he hoped would be a breakthrough year for him, but due to the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic, he was forced to sit a year out and would play racing games such as FV 2020, in order to keep his mind sharp, just in case he would go back to racing later in the year. After a turbulent 2020, he began picking up the pieces of his karting career, and made his return to the sport in early 2021, in the Downton Winter Cup in the VK class, at the first round in Seoul, where he came in 7th place in a field of 52 karters. He also raced in the Downton Asian Series and came in 3rd in the championship. Sung raced in a handful of other competitions throughout Asia, most notably the Virtual Asian Kart Series, where he gained media attention in South Korea after the third round in Suzuka, where he finished on the podium after starting at the near back of grid. The young Korean picked up various sponsors that funded his 2022 campaign, as he returned to Australia once again to compete in the Virtual Australian Karting Championship, but in the VK category this time, as came on the podium four times, and won one race, finishing the championship in 6th. This performance and a handful of other appearances in Australia and New Zealand was enough for him to be in contention for a VOARS seat. After testing with multiple teams in late 2023, including local Australian teams, Higgs Grand Prix and Outback Motorsport, he announced that he would be driving for Chinese team, Jiading Series Automobiles, partnering Serbian Milan Stankovic. (Who is not related to the singer at all, despite sharing the same exact name, and nationality) Although his team was the slowest of the 10 teams contesting VOARS, he drove with the best materials he and the team had, and has consistently beaten his teammate, and in the recent round in Thailand, he got the team's best results of the season, 7th, 9th and 10th, and despite him and Stankovic occupying the bottom top of the championship standings, (Kim, 19th. Stankovic, 20th) the team and drivers remain optimistic for a good string of points, but Sung is in a good mix in the rookies standings, currently lying 10th out of 12th, which is split by very few points. Kim is currently is aiming to race in Tier 3 for enough season, as he is still young "and has a lot left in him, if provided better machinery" and that his experienced teammate Stankovic "provides a good benchmark to test myself as a driver" He says that he is not ready to race in Europe as he "once drove in a karting race there and got demolished by everyone." He also explained his poor performances before Thailand, in India and China, as he said that he struggled with an injury in his leg, but is "100% ready to race" and wants to put some good results in the final round of the championship at Abu Dhabi. Chilean VARS drivers, José Castillo, and rookie Joaquín Sánchez, will be next on our list to write about, as the two Chilean drivers in the 2023 VARS grid. We will be documenting their stories as Sánchez is coached by the first ever Virtual driver from Chile, Andrés Espinoza, while Castillo is coached by his older brother and former Tier 3 driver in VARS, Pablo Castillo. The first ever Armenian driver in the Virtual pyramid, Vanoush Kostoyan competing in the VOARS as his first season a Tier 3 driver, will be covered later this week, as his journey from being a kid from a country no-one has ever heard of, to making it big time in Tier 3.
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