Kim Jin-pyo at a press conference at Speed Way in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province on Monday after winning the CJ Super Race Championship /Courtesy of GPKorea (Yonhap)

Rapper Kim Jin-pyo won the Super 1600cc Division of the CJ Super Race Championship, a professional racecar competition in Korea. Kim finished third in the final seventh round at Speed Way in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province on Sunday, but with a total score of 78 points, he easily beat the 62 points of second-place finisher Lee Dong-hoon.

Kim, who has performed with groups such as Panic and Novasonic, was introduced to the racing world in 2006 by actor Ryu Si-won. He debuted in the CJ Super Race Championship in 2007, and won his first event in this season’s opener in April. He has won three of his seven races this year, establishing himself as a top-tier racer in a short period of time.

“I am especially thrilled because I beat professional racers. Racing is a personal battle against yourself that you have to be extremely focused to win -- and that is what is so attractive about it,” said Kim. He added he practices two days a week. Ryu and Ahn Jae-mo, fellow actors as well as racing teammates, won fifth and sixth place in the Super 6000 Division, the highest level of the championship, respectively.

(englishnews@chosun.com )