Japanese, Marcelo eye karting lead

MANILA, Philippines - The Filipino and Japanese drivers slug it out again for top honors this weekend when the Pagcor KF2-KF3 Cup Series holds its second leg at the Clark International Speedway Sunday.

Defending champ Stefano Marcelo of Maranello-Marcelo Racing and Japanese Reo Takahashi of Kuwayama Racing dispute the solo lead in the KF2 class after splitting honors in the kickoff leg of the event sanctioned by the Automobile Association Philippines and sponsored by Pagcor and Aeromed.

Reo beat Juha Turalba of Ready2Race and will be banking on the support of his brother Tsubasa Takahashi to boost his bid for this year’s crown.

Marcelo, who won Race 2, is gunning for a sweep of the next two races as he tries to firm up his drive for back-to-back crowns.

But a host of others will be out to foil the fancied karters’ bid.

Turalba and Malaysian Senna Sulaiman Noor, who both placed third in separate races, are also seeking a better finish along with Javi Benitez of Jet Racing, Andres Calma of Full Throttle, Indy Villalon of AUTS Racing, Michael Fox, Milo Rivera and VJ Suba of Fern C-PCR-Tough Gear, Franco Reyes of Jet Racing, Roby Benito of Ready2Race and reigning Karter of the Year Joey Orduna.

The KF3 division, on the other hand, is tipped to be a duel between Cebuano Jette Calderon and Fern C-PCR-Tough Gear’s Estefano Rivera in the absence of Indonesian Yasuo Senna Iriawan.

Calderon, last year’s Formula SL Novice runner-up, ruled the first race but Iriawan dominated Race 2 in coast-to-coast fashion.