"I expect them (Filipino riders) to dominate the coming races," a confident AF3 chairman Ed Peña stressed in yesterday’s PSA Forum at the main function room of the Pantalan Restaurant in Manila.
By them, Peña was referring to top RP drivers Tyson Sy and Dado Peña who will again lead the country’s contingent in Rounds 4-6 of the Asian-hopping circuit that drives its way to Guangdong, China on June 17-18.
The 18-year-old Sy of Speedtech Asia swept the opening three races of the series at the Batangas Racing Circuit last month and leads the chase for the driver’s championship with 60 points. Peña, of Team Goddard, is running fifth with 22 points.
The two young Filipino stars and the rest of the RP team left for Guangdong yesterday, raring to test their Dallara 304 cars in practice runs set on Thursday and Friday at the 4.3-kilometer Zhuhai International Circuit. The race for pole position will be held Saturday morning, with Round 4 set in the afternoon.
"They have been racing in the AF3 for three years now, so more or less they’re quite familiar with the track there," Peña added in the weekly session sponsored by Pagcor and Manila Mayor Lito Atienza.
In the absence of former champions Ananda Mikola of Indonesia and Christian Jones of Australia, plus Irishman John O’Hara, runner-up in 2004, Peña said Briton James Winslow of JA Motorsports and teammateDillon Battistini, a series newcomer, should give Sy and Peña a run for their money.
"But I will be surprised if our drivers don’t finish 1-2," Peña added.
Race enthusiasts can monitor the races by logging on to www.asianf3.net and www.pldtmypad.
Battistini, the 28-year-old driver of JA Motorsports, is running second with 33 points, followed by Winslow with 32.
Three new drivers in Henri Karjalainen of Finland, Matt Shawyer of England and Lou Meng Cheong of Macau are seeing action in Guangdong.
Of the three, Cheong has the most impressive credentials, having won the Renault race in the 2004 Macau Grand Prix and participated in the British Formula Three Championship.
But Peña said he didn’t expect any of the three to be a threat.
"They don’t have any experience yet in AF3 driving," he stressed.