Carcel shocks Asian champ to top class in Shell karting

Promising Cebuano karter Juan Antonio L. Carcel outpaced the reigning Asian champion and some of the best Manila racers to take home the championship in the Mini ROK division of the 2008 Shell National Karting Series over the weekend at the Carmona racetrack in Carmona, Cavite.

Ranged against a tough field of opposition led by current Asian champion Christian Gaddi, the 12-year-old Carcel personified fortitude and craftiness under pressure to dominate the adrenaline-pumping race that went close from start to finish.

Carcel, Gaddi and Jette Calderon actually figured in an intense, three-way battle but the sixth-grader from PAREF-Springdale sped up at the last turn of the final and 15th lap to overtake his rivals and eventually grab the checkered flag in 49.2 seconds.

Calderon came in second in 49.35 seconds, but Gaddi was relegated to third place with the time of 49. 54 seconds.

It was Carcel’s sixth title in just his two-year stint in go-kart racing. In late 2006, he finished second in the Asian Karting Series held in Macau, China.

The feat earned Carcel a special citation during the 25th Sportswriters Association of Cebu-San Miguel Corporation (SAC-SMC) All-Cebu Sports Awards in May last year at the grand ballroom of Casino Español.