Phl karters up vs Singapore, Malaysia eyed as new power

Manila, Philippines - Philippines faces tougher chances for the overall crown with the emergence of new powers eyeing domination in the second leg of the 2011 Asian Karting Open Championship (AKOC) set July 28-31 at the Carmona Racetrack.

The past years saw the tight battle between the Philippines and Indonesia in this event sanctioned by the Commission International de Karting (CIK) and the Automobile Association Philippines (AAP) and sponsored by Petron (official fuel), San Miguel Corporation, Yokohama Tires (official tires), Denso Iridium Power (official spark plugs), Vivere Hotel and Motorstar Eastway.

But this season, Singapore and Malaysia beefed up their line-ups with high hopes of improving their title hauls in the international series supported by the Philippine Sports Commission.

The bulk of the foreign delegation is expected to arrive Tuesday and will be treated to a welcome dinner on Friday, 7 p.m. at the Vivere Hotel Ballroom.

The other participating countries are China, Macau, Hongkong, Japan and India which will vie for the titles in the premier Formula 125 Senior Open class Formula 125 Veteran, Rotax Max Senior, Formula 125 Junior Open, Rotax Max Junior, Mini-ROK, Cadet SQ and the Yamaha FSL Novice and Expert classes.

Though defending Asian Karting champ Sean Gelael is the top favorite, Zahir Ali of Kartmaster Singapore looms to be his toughest rival for the crown following his dominating sweep in the Macau kickoff.

He will be joined by Andrew Tang of Kartronix International, Julien Fong of Simon Racing, Sean Tang and Chan Key Hong of Kartmaster.

Malaysia pins its hopes on Tanapon Nokkaew of BHPetrol Racing Team, Aaron Chang Munshien of IS Racing Team and Freddy Numan Lawan of Freddy Lawan Racing.

Indonesia will be fielding the biggest delegation including topnotch karters Senna Sulaiman Noor, Christian Silvano, Perdana Putra Minang and Yasuo Senna Iriawan of Red White Racing Team, Gabriel Arcaradine Dwisatria of RR Motorsports, Andi Tangguh Farid Faqih of Go!!! Serge Motorsports and Presley Martono of Kartmaster.

The Formula 125 Open Juniors will be a close fight among Iriawan of Red-White Racing Indonesia, Thailand’s Sasakorn Chaimongkol, Arjun Maini of India, Daniel Adam Woodroof of Malaysia and RP’s very own Franco Reyes of Jet Racing.

Participants will have the glance of the racecourse on Thursday for the registration and open practice. The qualifying time trials and the qualifying heats are scheduled on Saturday while the Pre-Final and Final heat will be on Sunday.

For more info, interested parties may call the Carmona Racetrack c/o Rose Feria at 845-0745, 889-3389, 845-3287 and 845-4142 or visit the website www.asiankarting.com.