Reyes thwarts Indonesian rival in Asian karting

MANILA, Philippines - Top Filipino junior driver Franco Victor Puey Reyes of Jet Racing-Industria provided a ray of sunshine to an otherwise bleak day for the embattled Philippine Karting Team by winning the Formula 125 Jr. Open class in Round 1 of the 2010 Asian Karting Open Championships during the Independence Day weekend at the Carmona Circuit in Cavite.

The high school freshman from the Ateneo topped the final race after trailing archrival Indonesian Yasuo Senna Iriawan from the time trials to the qualifying heats, all the way to the closing laps of the finals.

“Senna was incredibly fast all weekend. I was his closest contender and yet I was almost half a second behind him in the time trials, which was too big a gap in racing, but I’m happy our strategy worked in the final races,” Reyes said.

The start of the final was tension-filled, when the 14-man grid repeatedly failed to make a good formation lap to start the race as the front-runners were all jockeying for positions. On the third try, the race was flagged off, and Reyes was able to tuck in behind the tail of the Indonesian, who led the pack, sticking to him lap after lap and corner after corner, to the delight of the largely partisan crowd who saw the other Filipino drivers in the other classes humbled by their foreign counterparts in their home track.

With 10 laps to go in the 22-lap final race, Reyes made his move according to the team’s strategy.

Sensing Senna’s kart sliding a bit due to tire wear, Reyes, attempted several passes in the flat-out first corner and the notorious Heavenly hairpin in Carmona.

True enough, Senna succumbed to the persistent pressure from the Filipino driver and with 7 laps to go in the race, Reyes passed the Indonesian in the inside line of the corner and wrested the lead for good, crossing the line in 15:53:156, just .289 seconds ahead of the Indonesian driver, and winning the championship.

He also posted the fastest lap time in the finals clocking 43.193 seconds around the 1.09km circuit, breaking his national record by almost 2/10ths of a second, which he set early this year.

Marino Sato of Japan checked in a distant 3rd, 5.89 seconds behind the leading duo. Drivers from Thailand, Singapore, Macau, Hong Kong, Japan, Indonesia and the host country participated in this event.

Relegated to 2nd position for the qualifying heats, Reyes was at a disadvantage starting from the outside line. A fouled-up carburetor added to his woes, dropping him to 5th place for the pre-final starting grid. By the time he was able to go up to 2nd position in the pre-final, Senna was already too far and impossible to catch up to.

“I had to battle with the other drivers in front of me early on in the 15-lap pre-final to get to 2nd position. I tried to push hard, but midway in the race, I realized I can’t catch up with Senna anymore as he was so far already, so I decided to just conserve my engine and sacrificed one position, to give me positional advantage for the final race” Reyes added.

In the other international classes, Jet Racing team captain Javier Miguel Benitez of Xavier School, finished 4th runner-up in the 125 Sr. Open, and Christian Gaddi, also from Jet Racing, was 3rd runner-up in the 60cc MiniROK division, providing the highest podium finishes for the Filipinos in these classes.

The next round will be at the Coloane Circuit in Macau this coming July 8-11. “We’re looking forward to Macau. It is a neutral track, so it’s anybody’s race. The team is preparing for it, though we should do well there as all of us three Jet Racing drivers won our previous Asian titles in that circuit.” A proud Reyes concluded.