MANILA, Philippines - The Philippines emerged the biggest winner but Richard Bradley’s victory in the premier Formula 125 Open Seniors signifies Singapore’s rise to power in the kickoff of the 2010 Asian Karting Open Championship at the Carmona Racetrack.
The 18-year-old Englishman, who resides in Singapore, swept the time trials, the qualifying heats, the pre-final and the final race to emerge the overall winner of this event sanctioned by the AAP and sponsored by Yokohama, Red-White Racing Indonesia, Magnolia Purewater, Petron, San Miguel Corp., Vivere Hotel, Department of Tourism, Philippine Sports Commission, Pagcor Sports, Aeromed and Motorstar.
Bradley is actually a multiple kart racing champ and has competed in the Super KF or Karting Formula 1 which is the highest level of karting. Though he has moved on to formula cars as the current points leader of the Drivers Championship and the Rookies Cup of the ongoing 2010 Formula BMW Pacific Championship, Bradley is trying to dust off rust coming back to his karting roots to represent Singapore.
With Singapore as one of the Asian venues of Formula Racing and his array of motorsports title feats, Bradley has what it takes to become the first Formula One champion from the Asian region.
“This is my first time racing in AKOC and in the Philippines, and the atmosphere and the drivers are new to me. However, the drivers are of good quality and I really enjoyed myself. I feel fantastic about the win and it’s a great confidence booster to win in karts again,” said Bradley, who will see action in Round 2 of the Asian Karting Open Championship set July 10-11 in Macau.
Singapore, despite its lean delegation, went home with two titles and two runner-up places. Maximilian Fewtrell bagged the other title for Singapore when he ruled the Mini-ROK class.