Clark hosts Asian karting leg

MANILA, Philippines - The Philippines hosts another major international motorsports spectacle as the 2011 Asian Karting Open Championship Series stages its penultimate leg  set Nov. 4-6 at the Clark International Speedway.

Over 70 karters from 10 countries will be coming over to take their last ditch crack for the titles at stake in this prestigious event sanctioned by the Commission International de Karting (CIK) and the Automobile Association Philippines (AAP) and sponsored by Petron – the official fuel, San Miguel Corporation, Yokohama Tires – the official tires, Denso Iridium Power – the official spark plugs and Clark Development Corporation.

Ace karters from neighboring countries Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand, China, Macau, Hongkong, Japan and India have confirmed their participation in the hunt for the overall crown of this event supported by the Philippine Sports Commission.

It’s the first time in years that the country will be hosting two legs of the Asian Karting Open. Bangkok was supposed to host the penultimate round but the recent disastrous typhoon in Thailand left the track still submerged in water till now.

In the previous encounter at the Carmona Circuit last July, Singapore proved itself as the rising power in region when Andrew Tang of Kartronix International emerged overall champion of the premiere Formula 125 Open Seniors class.

Aside from the Formula 125 Open Seniors class, participants will be competing for the titles in the 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.

Filipinos likewise hope to regain their domination behind Estefano Rivera of FERN-C Racing who aims to repeat his feat after delivering the lone champion trophy for the Philippines in the Carmona Racetrack leg.

The other topnotch Filipino karters out eager to topple foreign challenge this time are four-time champion Stefano Marcelo of Maranelo-San Miguel Corporation-Marcelo Racing, FERN-C Racing crew Milo Rivera, Matthew Chan and brothers VJ and Vrei-Ar Suba, Industria Racing’s Franco Reyes and Jette Calderon and the comebacking Alessandra Madrigal who staged an amazing comeback rallying from 17th place to a runner-up finish in the Formula 125 Open Seniors class.

Among the other foreign favorites are Singapore’s Julien Fong of Simon Racing, Sean Tang and Chan Key Hong of Kartmaster;  and Malaysians Tanapon Nokkaew of BHPetrol Racing Team, Aaron Chang Munshien of IS Racing Team and Freddy Numan Lawan of Freddy Lawan Racing.

Indonesia is expcted to field 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.

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.