Local bets vs foreign field in Asian karting

MANILA, Philippines - Filipino karters brace for a tough outing against a crack foreign field as they vie for the overall championship in the penultimate leg of the Asian Karting Open Championship Series set Nov. 4-6 at the Clark International Speedway.

Reigning champion Stefano Marcelo of Maranello-San Miguel Corp.-Marcelo Racing and Estefano Rivera of FERN-C Racing will banner the country’s campaign in the event sanctioned by the Commission International de Karting and the Automobile Association Philippines.

Marcelo, a four-time Karter of the Year awardee, is raring to prove his worth in the premier Formula 125 Open Senior class after missing the action in the AKOC leg in Carmona last July.

Rivera, on the other hand, goes for a repeat win in the Formula 125 Open Junior plum over top favorite Daim Hishammudin of Singapore and Toby Earle of CRG-Thailand in the event sponsored by Petron, the official fuel, San Miguel Corp., Yokohama Tires, the official tires, Denso Iridium Power, the official spark plugs, and Clark Dev. Corp.

Over 70 karters from Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand, China, Macau, Hongkong, Japan and India will be vying for top honors in the Formula 125 Open Seniors class, F-125 Veteran, Rotax Max Senior, F-125 Junior Open, Rotax Max Junior, Mini-ROK, Cadet SQ and the Yamaha FSL Novice and Expert classes.

The other top Filipino bets in the Formula 125 Open Senior class are Juha Turalba and Roby Benito of One Racing, VJ Suba and Milo Rivera of FERN-C Racing, Franco Reyes and Jette Calderon of Industria Racing, comebacking Bobby Domingo, Joseph Castelar, Migs Lagman and Alessandra Madrigal of Alessandra Racing.

Madrigal turned in an impressive finish in the premiere Formula 125 Open Seniors class where she rallied from 17th place to salvage a runner-up finish behind Singaporean Andrew Tang.

Joining Rivera in the Formula 125 Open Juniors are FERN-C Racing teammates Vrei-AR Suba and Matthew Chan and Tonyo Carcel of AUTS Racing as they slug it out with current leader Yasuo Senna Iriawan of Red White Racing-Indonesia, Indian bets Arjun Maini of Gautama Maini Racing and Darma MH of Humpuss Junior Racing Team and Sasakorn Chaimongkol of Maxima Motorsports-Thailand.

The other Filipino title contenders are FERN-C Racing’s Sacha Feliciano in the Yamaha Cup Juniors, Carl Pollington in the Mini-ROK division, John Castelar in the Yamaha Cup Seniors, Raymond Cudala in the SQ Cadet class, and Don Batino in the SQ Expert class.

For details, 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.