Teen ace Reyes feted top Filipino junior karter

MANILA, Philippines - Industria Jet Racing’s Franco Victor Puey Reyes romped away with top junior honors in the 2010 karting season and was honored as top junior karter during in the recently concluded Golden Wheel Awards held at the Grand Theater of Pagcor.

Reyes, 15, an incoming Ateneo high school sophomore, emerged as the top Filipino junior karter with his overall championship win in the Pagcor KF3 Series, a first runner-up finish in the ROK Cup series and was later conferred the International Junior Karter of the Year award by the Golden Wheel.

Reyes, who started his racing career as a wide-eyed 8-year old kid back in 2005, is now racing in the senior class of the local and national championships this season. However, he will still compete in the international karting scene as a junior, as he is still eligible in his class.

“The international races are so tough, even in the juniors level, especially in Europe where karting is very popular. I still need a lot of experience to be competitive in the international senior classes. I was more than happy just to get through the finals last October in the ROK Junior World Finals in Lonato, Italy after going through the tough elimination stages among 62 drivers,” said Reyes, who finished 21st.

Reyes is scheduled to compete next week in the 22nd edition of the Trofeo Margutti to be held at the Pista 7 Laghi, Castelletto di Branduzzo in Pavia, Italy, the first Filipino to compete in this historic race organized by Parma Karting. He will be competing in the junior KF3 class.

“My goal is just to reach the final 34. Only 72 drivers were accepted for the race and only 3 Asians made it, so reaching the finals is already a big achievement. It’s tough because it will be my first time in this track, but I have a good Italian race team to support me, and besides, the finals will be on my birthday, maybe I’ll get lucky and get through after all. We’ll see.” a smiling Reyes added.