Boom's new guy too fast for her?

Having gone from dabbler to sponsor of her own team, Panadda Racing, she's now fallen in love with one of the racers, 22-year-old Thitipong "Tingnote" Warakorn, who's the national champion in the 250cc class.

The former beauty queen is 13 years older than the sportsman with the boy-next-door looks, but love never signed a treaty on age limits. And they get along great, although Boom admits to some anxiety when the relationship was first revealed and comments appeared online about Tingnote being unworthy of her.

"I was afraid he'd see them and get upset," she says. "I'm used to unkind gossip, but he's been in motor sports since he was seven or eight and he's probably not familiar with this sort of thing."

Anyway, Boom adds, Tingnote is aware he's not drop-dead handsome, and even jokes about it. "He always says he might not be good-looking but he has a handsome heart!"

Evidently that's not exactly a secret because Boom soon discovered he has lots of lady friends. "He gets so many messages from girls on his mobile! You know, the racers always attract those 'pretties'," she says, meaning the babes that work at the racetrack.

"But I made it clear I didn't want any nonsense. Now we can just leave our phones sitting in front of us and there's no cause for suspicion."

Boom says she deliberately set her sights on finding a "normal" boyfriend - an average-looking guy without any obvious chick magnetism so that she wouldn't have to worry.

Unfortunately, Tingnote does wear one of those tight jumpsuits with decals all over it, and he is a champion, after all. And he's got a "line".

Boom says they first met at the track when he asked if she was interested in buying one of his motorcycles. "He said he'd bring it to show me and asked for my number. I still haven't seen that bike!"