CEBU, Philippines - Even after all the misfortunes that he went through, Juan Antonio “Tonyo” Carcel kept his composure to win the premiere KT expert division of 2012 Kartzone Superkart Series—fourth leg at Kartzone in Kasambagan, this city over the weekend.
During the qualifying round, Carcel posted 33.525 seconds behind Joseph Rojo who clocked 33.398 seconds while JT Gullas posted 33.609 in wet conditions.
Even with a good position at the start of first heat, Carcel despite his vast experience in karting said that having the wrong gearing caused him trouble.
Carcel finished fourth behind Joseph Rojo at the end of the initial heat.
In the ensuing heat, Carcel had a bad start and got stuck behind a few karters in the back of the pack.
“I was able to overtake them later on already and finished at fifth,” said Carcel to The Freeman.
Looking back at it, Carcel’s second heat performance was actually his best lap time of the latest battle at 28.491 clocking on a damp race track.
The second heat saw Jette Calderon coming out on top followed by Sean Velasco, Joseph Rojo, JT Gullas and Carcel that made the final heat anybody’s game.
“I didn’t think I would end up winning,” added Carcel who started fifth in the final heat following their placing in the second heat.
But as real Titan, the senior high school student of Paref-Springdale Carcel poured everything he got, never gave up the fight and worked his way up.
With a good start, Carcel saw himself behind Sean Velasco after the first turn and he eventually outmaneuvered Veloso after two laps.
Carcel never looked back from there and won the 25-lap action.
He posted a total time of 11:54.791, followed by Jette Calderon who was 2.231 seconds behind the former and Sean Velasco at third spot.
Carcel’s day came out complete knowing his sister, Kali also got into the podium after coming second in the novice class won the Vince Rojo.
Panpan Reroma also grabbed part of the limelight after outsmarting Regan King for the masters’ division title. — THE FREEMAN