Tayao-Cabrera grabs 3rd overall in Castrol Champions of the Future

MANILA, Philippines -  Gabriel “Gabe” Tayao-Cabrera, nephew of multi-awarded lateral drifter Kevin Tayao, bagged the 3rd overall plum in the recently concluded Castrol-Champions of the Future Race Series at the Carmona Race Track in Cavite.

The rookie karter’s debut into the world of motorsports was besieged with unfortunate incidents starting from health, kart problems and bad crashes respectively in the first, third and championship leg of the 4-leg series.

Tayao-Cabrera was hoping to redeem himself in the last leg of the series to make up for his loss during the 3rd leg when kart problems snatched away his chance for a podium finish. Gabe clocked in qualifying times of 46.1 during the first leg at the Carmona Race Track, 36.53 during the second leg of the series where he won the division championship along with close friend Raymond Cudala in Boomland Pasay.

Both Cudala and Tayao-Cabrera struggled during the 3rd leg qualifying time trials due to the wet track at Kart-Trak Boomland with Cudala clocking in at 47.34 and Tayao-Cabrera at 48.13. While Cudala was eventually able to tuck in the top spot, Tayao-Cabrera was racing for a solid second before his kart unfortunately broke down during the last few laps of the leg.

The championship leg of the series saw a well-prepared Gabe who clocked in 42.43 at Carmona – 3.67 seconds faster than his initial time in Carmona a few months back. However, luck remained elusive as Gabe figured in a crash early on at the first turn of the final leg.

Tayao-Cabrera’s formidable standing during the heats of the four legs nevertheless gained him enough cumulative points to place him as the 3rd overall winner of the race series. His parents, former MBA Negros Slasher Richard Cabrera and former newscaster & multi-awarded badminton player Karen Tayao are proud of the achievement considering Gabe’s karting debut was marred by numerous setbacks.

Much as he would have wanted a more stellar standing, Tayao-Cabrera is looking forward to a stronger comeback in next year’s Castrol-Champions of the Future Race Series and likewise credits Tuason Racing School for giving him the opportunity to excel in karting.

Tayao-Cabrera is currently preparing for a better performance at the karting nationals next month along with Raymond Cudala, Wills Casequin, Arthur Tuason and Nikki Lao who respectively won the 1st, 2nd, 4th and 5th overall top spots in the Castrol-COF series.