MediaCorp Subaru Challenge 2012 – The Asian Face-Off

The unrelenting heat took a toll on contestants today at Asia’s biggest endurance challenge.

Now in its 11th year, it entered its second day in bright sunshine, with no sign of rain to cool off the contestants who are required to keep their right palm continuously on one of ten Subaru Imprezas stationed at Ngee Ann City Civic Plaza, with just a five-minute break every six hours.

From the original 400 contestants – from 10 countries across the region, a total of 295 had dropped out of the competition after the first 24 hours.

Of all the dropouts, 246 came from the 310-strong Singapore contingent while 49 were from the 90 contestants from nine regional countries taking part.

And it appears that age and gender do not play a part in what is expected to be an arduous, four-day face-off to win the stylish crossover.

The Challenge’s oldest contestant, 68-year-old Ms Vivien Tan, who entered the contest this year for the fifth time – dropped out of the contest around 5am this morning, just short of the 16 and half hour mark.

Just one of the four youngest contestants – 19-year-old Guo Yuan Chang, was still standing after the first 24 hours.

A Singapore Polytechnic engineering student and first time contestant, Guo trained for the Challenge by cycling with his friends regularly in the lead-up to the event.

Besides vying for the grand prize, regional contestants - from Cambodia, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam - are also competing for three additional titles and cash prizes. The title of Country Winner will go to the last standing representative from each country, with a cash prize of S$1,000. The last-standing regional contestant will be named Asian Winner and walk away with S$5,000 in cash. The Country Team Winner title – with a cash prize of S$10,000, will be awarded to the country that achieves the longest combined standing time (the total time of all 10 representatives from the same country).

And for the very first time in the history of the Challenge, the last 11 contestants will be awarded a “Wild Card”, where they can choose from a list of items, such as a drink or a burger. This will change the dynamics of the challenge, as contestants will need to strategise how they will use the “Wild Card” to their best advantage.

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