MANILA, Philippines - Moving up from the ROK Novice to the premier ROK Overall class usually takes time for a karter to adapt to the new set-up and engine. But for the 2011 ROK Novice first runner-up Christopher Joseph “CJ” Tsui, it seems he has found his rightful place to better showcase his racing skills.
The 16-year-old De La Salle Santiago Zobel Senior came out a big surprise with his haul of six trophies – two in the Petron Karting Super Series and four in the Denso KF2-KF3 Cup Series. If the twinbill karting weekend will be used as a gauge, Tsui could be the next karting superstar to watch this season.
In the Petron Series, he emerged champion in the ROK Novice class and wound up fifth in the ROK Junior division after finishing seventh in the combined ROK races.
He was a bigger revelation in the Denso KF2-KF3 Cup Series where he ended up with a runner-up and three third places despite driving a much faster KF2 engine for the first time
He has shown marked improvement and racing maturity last season. Tsui actually won the ROK Novice race in the last three legs of the Petron Karting Super Series at the Enchanted Kingdom, the Clark International Speedway and the championship race at the Carmona Racetrack.
Overall, he ended the series as the runner-up in the ROK Novice division with 401 points. And he credits his feat to the big support of Industria Racing and its crew, and his sponsor Asia Overseas Transport Co. Inc..
“Making it as the ROK Novice runner-up last season was really inspiring and I hope that this trophy serves as my spring board to bigger milestones this year,” said Tsui.