Young Madrigal shines

BANGKOK — Philippine karting prodigy Alessandra Madrigal of Alessandra Racing Team Incorporated displayed nerves of steel against great pressure from 2004 defending champion Cris Yachiroda and fastest Thai female Atirat Rojanastien to seize a thrilling win in the Toyota Youth Kart Experience Challenge Cup 2005 Sunday at the Bangkok Racing Circuit in Srinakarin, Thailand.

It was the second international triumph for the young kart whiz after bringing home the laurels for the country last month. The nine-year-old Madrigal, backed up by principal sponsor ING Private Banking, major sponsors Puma and Globe Gizmo and co-sponsors Dickies and Petron Ultron, ruled the Puma 85 class in the second round of the 2005 Thailand National Karting Championship, setting a new track lap record of 52.1 seconds on the 1.2 kilometer Bira Race Circuit.

Also supported by local sponsors Thomas Raldorf and the crews of Italkart and the Pizza Company, Madrigal steered her reliable Parilla-powered Italkart to a commanding triumph in the Trulli 85 class with a time of 9:15.931.

Bearing with a 36 degrees Centigrade heat in the 0.84 kilometer track that she tried only three days prior to race proper, Madrigal clocked the fastest laptime of 45.914 seconds, with an average speed of 65.862 kph.

She finished the race barely half a second ahead of Yachiroda who clocked 9:16.662 while Itsaraet V. checked in third after 9:29.613.

Alan Uy of Alessandra Racing Team Incorporated and Thomas Raldorf completed the sweep for the team. Uy dominated the Clubman Class while Raldorf, the team’s local technical support chief, bagged the VIP class plum.

Madrigal took the lead from the start in the field of nine karters with Yachiroda and Atirat never more than three-quarters of a second behind her in the initial four laps of the race, drawing cheers from the ecstatic crowd already on the edge of their seats each time a pass was anticipated.

However, Atirat’s brush with another kart on the fifth lap left only Yachinoda breathing down Madrigal’s neck. Trailing her by only half a second in lap six, the Japanese-backed defending champion trimmed Alessandra’s lead down to a mere 0.35 of a second with three laps to go.

In a burst of focus and determination, she did not him get any closer and brought the race to a thrilling close as Alessandra skillfully boosted her gap to 0.727 of a second.

Apart from competing more in Thailand in the coming months, her 2005 calendar has races scheduled in Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore.