Reyes best Pinoy finisher in Macau karting

MANILA, Philippines - Industria Racing’s Franco Victor Reyes turned in a runner-up finish in the Asian Karting Open Championship, averting a fruitless campaign by the Philippine contingent in the Macau International Kart Grand Prix in Macau recently.

The 15-year old sophomore from Ateneo held his own against a slew of European-trained Indonesian, Thai and Singaporean drivers, turning in an impressive finish in the finals of the Junior 125 Open class, grabbing runner-up honors in the Junior 125 Open that drew a field of 20 at the 1.2km Kartodromo de Coloane tracks.

“We fought a good race and we made them work for it,” said Reyes, who went head to head with eventual winner Sasakorn Chaimongkol of Thailand.

Starting third in the final race, Reyes got stuck behind fading defending champion and erstwhile overall leader Yasuo Senna Iriawan of Indonesia, enabling Sasakorn to grab the early lead going into the second corner, with Malaysian bet Daim bin Hishamudin in second.

But the fast-charging Reyes drove past Senna, overtook Hishamudin a lap after then chased Sasakorn, lapping the tricky circuit one-tenth of a second faster than the Thai midway in the 18-lap final.           

But the equally talented Sasakorn held on to his post, defending well against the Filipino bet’s charge. Reyes made a last-ditch effort in the last few laps but could not shake off Sasakorn at the end of the long straight and into the hairpin at the second corner.

With the junior overall title at stake, Senna used his new set of tires in the pre-final, which he won handily over Sasakorn and Reyes. But this proved to be a costly tactical error as he lost ground against the two drivers with fresh tires in the final race, and struggled to finish fifth, enabling Sasakorn to snatch the overall title.

Reyes, hounded by controversial decisions against him by the panel of stewards whole year round, could only smile at the end of the race.

“The decisions against me in the previous rounds affected my points standing in the series, but anyway, I had a good four years of top level racing in the juniors, it’s time to move on to the next step. We are happy with what we’ve achieved all these years. Asian Cadet champion in 2006, third overall in the juniors in 2008 and 2011, and three-time Macau Kart Grand Prix championships. I couldn’t ask for more. This circuit has been good to me and my team.”

Reyes, who will be moving up to the senior 125cc class starting next season, is scheduled to compete in the tough Japan series and a couple of major races in Europe.