Cebu's Antonio Carcel is 3rd in Macau karting

Promising Cebuano karter Juan Antonio Carcel readily made an impact in his first overseas stint by taking home the third place trophy in the Formula Cadet 60cc category of the 2006 Macau International Kart Grand Prix recently at the Coloane Go-Kart Racing Course in Macau, China.

The 11-year-old Carcel has already competed in several international tilts in Manila, but it was the first time he took part in a karting event abroad.

Carcel, a Grade 5 student of PAREF-Springdale, made his breakthrough tournament on foreign shore by completing the grueling 12-lap race behind his fellow countryman Francisco Reyes and Sasakorn Chaimongkol of Thailand.

Carcel posted his best time when he negotiated one lap in one minute and 3.055 seconds.

Curiously, the youngest racer in the Cadet 60cc is a Filipino in Christian Joseph Gaddi, who is only seven years old.

It was a double victory for Carcel as he also landed at a decent third place in the fourth and last round of the Asia Karting Open Championship (AKOC), which has given higher profile by tying up with the ROK Cup series. The first three legs were staged in Kuala Lumpur, Manila and Jakarta.

In Macau, Carcel saw action with her younger sister Kalyka Antoni, but the nine-year-old first grader from Southcrest failed to break into the top 10.

The Carcels were accompanied in their Macau trip by their proud parents Mia and Neil, who is also visible in the local sports circuit being a member of the Sacred Heart Alumni Basketball Association (SHABA).

The two-day contest, held last December 16-17, was jointly organized by the Macau Sports Development Board (MSDB), the Macau Government Tourist Office (MGTO) and the China-Macau Autosports Club (ACMC).

A total of 229 karters from 22 countries and regions joined the race, including United Kingdom, Finland, Italy, Denmark, Switzerland, South Africa, Belgium, France, New Zealand, Australia, Germany, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Singapore, China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong.