The two even figured in a one-upmanship show in the final lap of the 12-lap race, grabbing and losing the lead from each other in dangerous maneuvers before Peña, of Team Goddard, floored the pedal for one final surge en route to victory in 19 minutes and 26.400 seconds.
It was hardly the outcome expected earlier in the race as Irishman Ali Jackson, who emerged fastest in the battle for pole position earlier in the day, got off to a perfect start and quickly established a big lead over the two Filipino racing stars only to be overtaken just as the race neared the checkered flag.
With victory within his grasp, Jackson, who ruled the karting championship in Ireland last year and is using the AF3 circuit as his jumping board to a projected stint in the European series next year, slowed down with less than three kilometers that he later attributed to electrical trouble.
With the win, his first ever since joining the open division last year, was worth 20 points for the 18-year old Peña and improved his total to 42, climbing into a tie for second, from fifth, with Briton James Winslow who finished fourth in 19:38.696.
Sy, 18, lead driver of Speedtech Asia, settled for 15 and sat comfortably atop the driver’s standings with 75 points going into the fifth and sixth rounds Sunday.
"When I saw a little opening as I was challenging Tyson, I told myself I’ll gonna go for this, but I hope he sees me. Luckily Tyson did and we did not figure in an ugly mess that would have taken us out of the race," gushed Peña, who stint here is backed by PLDT, Mossimo, MOF, Hanjin and Manila Bulletin.
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Jackson, 17, of Aran Racing, who clocked the fastest time of 1:35.902 in qualifying at the 4.3-kilometer Zhuhai Circuit, was relegated to third and picked up 12 points, improving to fifth from seventh.
"There seemed to be a problem with the car, electrical I think. It just puffed and the car’s performance just dropped. I had a good start and tried to maintain my pace until the last lap. I guess I have to do harder next time," Jackson said.
The 1-2 finish vindicated AF3 Corp. chairman Ed Peña, father of Dado, who stuck his head out before the race and predicted Filipino drivers would dominate the opposition here. "We can expect the same in the next two races. The two have really come of age," he said.
Sy, who posted the second best time in qualifying, clocked 19:26.571, just 0.171 seconds behind Pena but was hardly bothered.
"I really had an opportunity to take the race. Puwede ko ng isara ‘yung late laps but I had to play it safe.
I’d rather give space to Dado and assure ourselves that we would finish the race and not do stupid things," said Sy, who briefly took the lead from Jackson early in the race only to lose it shortly.
"Earlier I was trying to catch up with Ali, then with Dado, but I also had some problems with the car. Since Thursday, we were struggling with the set-up. At the 10th lap, Dado even made a small mistake but he went faster and I knew I had to give way. At least it was a 1-2 finish for Filipino drivers. Nothing could be better than that," Sy added.
Briton Dillon Battistini, Winslow’s teammate at JA Motorsport, finished fifth (19:40.017), followed by Indon Moreno Soeprapto of Aran Racing (19:41.173) and fellow Indon Satrio Hermanto of R&W Indonesia Fastron who topped the promotions class in 19:56.755.
Series newcomer Cheong Loumeng of Macau was 8th (19:57.930) and finished second in the promotions race for cars with chassis built in 2000 and below.
Ninth went to former AF3 champion Pepon Marave who drove Winslow’s car, while Indon Bagoes Hermanto came in 10th, followed by comebacking Rolando Hermoso of the Philippines and lady driver Gaby dela Merced, the third entry in the promotions class.
"I had a very bad start, stalled at take-off. In the middle laps, I was inside everyone. I just lost it. My head wasn’t in this race today. My biggest challenge is my mental state," said Dela Merced, who turned 24 last Saturday.