Escalante mini-ROK bet in Italy

MANILA, Philippines - Basti Escalante leaves tomorrow to join the RP team competing in the ROK Cup International Finals set Oct. 14-17 at the South Garda Karting Circuit in Lonato.

Escalante, from Tuason Racing School, will be vying for the mini-ROK crown against a field teeming with talent.

They include the best in the Southeast Asian region, headed by James William Christopher Wei Pull of Malaysia and Maximilian Fewtrell, the top two contenders with 72 and 68 points, respectively.

Escalante, a Grade 6 student at De La Salle-Zobel, hopes to put up a strong showing after missing the Macau and Indonesian legs of the circuit.

He currently leads the mini-ROK title race with 389 points going into the championship round later this month at the Carmona Circuit Philippines.

“I’ll give it my best. This is one of the rare opportunities to fight for our flag and despite our lean five-man Philippine team, we want to show that Filipinos can be ranged against the world’s best,” said Escalante.

He will be accompanied by TRS vice president of operations and coach Mike Tuason.

Escalante’s campaign is backed by Tuason Racing School, Ready2Race, OMP, Audi, Transnational Diversified Group, Werdenberg International Corp.,Bridgestone, Puma, Coke Zero, Castrol, Bank of Commerce, Emcor, KServico, Washington Watches and The Philippine STAR.