Karters face big test vs foreign bets

Top Filipino karters are headed for a big showdown against equally talented counterparts from Indonesia and Malaysia as the 2003 Casino Filipino-Shell Asian Karting Open Championship unfolds this weekend, Oct. 3-5 at the Carmona Circuit Philippines in Carmona, Cavite.

Indonesia will be sending a 10-man team led by Ryan Anthony Monoaya in this event sponsored by Casino Filipino, Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corporation, Bridgestone, Nokia, Denso, Palmer Asia Inc. and Vivere Suite Hotel.

Monoaya is eyeing revenge on M&M Racing’s Michelle Bumgarner who beat him in the Intercontinental-A Junior class on his own turf in the kickoff leg of the 2003 Asian Zone Karting Championship at the Sentul Karting Circuit in Jakarta, Indonesia.

Joining him in the Indonesian title campaign are Moreno Soeprapto, Arya Setyaki, Satya Rasa, Meckel Ali and Alex Asmasoebrata who will be gunning for the Formula Rotax Max Seniors; Zulfikar Fahmi and A. Alexandra Nurluthvia in the Rotax Max Juniors; M. Rully Armando and Riandi Prasetya in the Cadet 85 class; and Perdana Imam Buana and Zahir Ali in the Formula-A class.

Two veteran RP drivers, two-time Karter of the Year JP Tuason of Tuason Racing-Addict Mobile and Lee Bumgarner of M&M Racing will also have their hands full in the Formula Rotax Max Seniors against Malaysian James Leong who will be tagging along five drivers.

"The Malaysians are equally good drivers, especially James Leong but I’ll try my best and hopefully, we’ll see the Philippine flag raised up high," said Tuason.

Some 60 karters are expected to compete in this event sanctioned by the Philippine International Karting Association (PIKA) and the Automobile Association of the Philippines. Aside from Indonesia and Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei have also confirmed their participation to vie for the titles in the Formula-A, Intercontinental —A Juniors, the Formula Rotax Max Seniors, Formula Rotax Max Juniors and the Cadet 85 class.

"This year’s race is even tougher since only the best karters from the Southeast Asian Region are competing here. That’s why our local karters have been preparing hard since last week," said Carmona Circuit Philippines project director Lot M. Tan.

Joining the country’s campaign for honors are fast-rising young karters Tyson Sy of Demvels, Dado Pena of Birel-A3 Motorsports and Allan Uy of Primus Racedevils in the premiere Formula-A class; and M&M Racing’s Mark Bumgarner and Marty Aguilar and Birel-A3 Motorsports’ Marlon Stockinger in the Formula Rotax Max Juniors.

Three promising young local racers – Buffy Laurel of Birel-A3 Motorsports, Paco Rodriguez of Team Cebu-Demvels and Kevin Katzer – will be gunning for the Cadet 85 honors.