MANILA, Philippines - Newcomer Zachary David enhanced his promising racing career when he ruled the Asian Formula Cadet championship in the kickoff of the Asian Karting Open series at the Kartodromo de Coloane Circuit in Macau recently.
The seven-year-old first grader at Keys School Manila put on an impressive performance in his first international stint, sweeping all three qualifying heats, the pre-final and the final races.
David, in his second competitive race after winning the Formula Cadet crown in the second leg of the local Petron Blaze ROK Cup Super Karting series, actually slowed down in the final race, yielded the lead with four laps to go but struck back to seize control en route to victory.
He completed the 15-lap final race in 15 minutes, 23.172 seconds.
“I was really tired. But I was so happy that I won the race and got to bring home the trophy,†said Zach who started out at the Tuason Racing School’s karting clinic before training under Formula-E Racing CEO and coach Elson Carpio.
“For a young kid to absorb the lessons you teach, I knew he’s a potential future champion. And winning his first race in Carmona validated my hunch,†said Carpio.
“Though joining the Macau Race was experimental, I still trained him for the bigger challenge and in just that short time, he delivered and brought laurels for the country just on his second competitive race. Even the Asian Karting officials were impressed,†he said.