Ready2Race ready to face all comers

MANILA, Philippines - Ready2Race eyes strong bids for the titles at stake as it parades a 13-man powerhouse lineup in the 2009 Philippine Karting Super Series, which kicked off last weekend at the Carmona Circuit Philippines.

Asian ROK champion Juha Turalba, Roby Benito, Joey Orduna and Brian del Val spearheaded the title hunt for Ready2Race, backed up by Tuason Racing School, Tony Kart, OTK kart parts, HJC Auto Helmets, Sparco Racing, AIM Racing gauges, Oakley race gear, Golden Harvest Integrated Services and Shipping, BANPU, Barwil-Smith Bell Shipping, Rio-Tinto, FARM and Ford Batangas.       

Turalba, who bagged the 2008 Golden Wheel International Driver of the Year award, will be the team’s best bet in the premier ROK class after finishing overall runner-up last season.

Benito has shown great improvement with his latest triumph in the 2009 Pagcor Sports KF3 Series. He and Orduna, the 2008 Asian ROK Junior Karter of the Year, will be competing in the ROK junior division.

Del Val, who wound up second in the Formula SL Novice class last season, will move up to the ROK Novice class.

“We enjoyed a great harvest last year and hopefully we will surpass that feat this season,” said Ready2Race chief Chito Benito.

Completing the cast for Ready2Race are lady karter Jennifer Tumambing (ROK Novice), Hong Kong’s Matthew Solomon (ROK Novice), Von Medrano (Formula SL Heavy), Korean Daniel Park (Formula SL Novice), CJ Tsui (Formula SL Novice), Matthew Chan (Formula SL Novice), Basti Escalante (Mini-ROK), Aira Medrano and Joseph Tumambing (Baby ROK).

Aside from the regular lineup, the team will also field international drivers, making Ready2Race the biggest team in the series.

The 2009 Pagcor Sports KF2-KF3 kickoff provided a glimpse of the team’s strength behind Benito and Turalba.

Benito dominated the first race of the KF3 division coast-to-coast, beating Indonesian ace Senna Sulaiman Noor and Japanese Ukyo Sasahara with a time of 10 minutes, 8.901 seconds or 0.204 second ahead of Noor.

He appeared headed for another big win in the second race as he took an early lead, but was forced to head back to the pits when his accelerator cable broke.

Turalba, on the other hand, made it fourth in the first race of the KF2 division and later ended fifth in the second round.