MANILA, Philippines – A dramatic endrace twist handed Roby Benito of Ready2Race the crucial victory that livened up his title hopes recently in the sixth and penultimate leg of the 2010 Magnolia Purewater Karting Super Series at the Clark International Speedway in Pampanga.
Benito, who’s turning 16 on Oct. 1, thus ended with a double-title feat bagging both the ROK overall and ROK junior crowns of this event sanctioned by the Automobile Association Philippines and sponsored by Magnolia Purewater, San Miguel Corp., Petron Corp., Yokohama Tires, Motorstar and Aeromed.
The crowd was actually looking forward to a thrilling climax to the “Stefano versus Estefano” duel as Stefano Marcelo of Maranello-SMC-Marcelo Racing and the young Estefano Rivera of Fern-C Racing engaged in a grueling showdown in the qualifying heat and the pre-final that resulted in split victories.
But Benito got in their way and wrested victory following an unexpected turn. Marcelo actually won the race but got penalized due to a jumpstart violation, thus giving Benito the outright victory.
Roby wrapped up the race in 11 minutes, 8.178 seconds or 2.863 seconds ahead of Rivera. Cebuano Jette Calderon checked in third overall while Pampanga bet Archim Lagman and Juha Turalba wound up fourth and fifth..
The win bolstered Benito’s bid for both the Karter of the Year and the Junior Karter plum in one season.