CARMONA , Philippines – Japanese karters took the limelight from their Filipino rivals as they swept all the titles recently in the second leg of the 2009 Pagcor Sports KF2-KF3 Series at the Carmona Circuit Philippines.
Tsubasa Takahashi and Kyohei Yamashita split honors in the KF2 division while Ukyo Sasahara pulled a sweep in the KF3 class of this event sanctioned by the Automobile Association Philippines (AAP) and sponsored by Pagcor Sports and Palmer Asia Inc. – The Fire and Security Expert.
Local drivers really learned a thing or two from the solid teamwork and driving skills of the Japanese Kuwayama drivers who, at their young age, gained a lot of experience touring the globe to compete in international karting events.
At takeoff, Daiki Sasaki, Takahashi and Koki Hoshino clogged the frontline leaving Filipinos scrambling for positions behind.
Malaysian Senna Sulaiman Noor managed to squeeze in but it was John Alvarez of Maranello-San Miguel Corporation-Marcelo Racing who broke the Japanese 1-2-3 chain when he barged into third place behind Sasaki and Takahashi.
But the frontrunning Japanese drivers switched places as Sasaki gave the lead to the 14-year-old Takahashi and put up a great defense that prevented Alvarez from moving further up.
Takahashi controlled the tempo from thereon and claimed the checkered flag in 14 minutes and 19.037 seconds or a far 3.209 seconds ahead of Sasaki who checked in after 14:22.246.
Alvarez took third place 10 seconds behind with 14:29.598 while 17-year-old Yamashita and Malaysian Senna Noor wound up fourth and fifth, respectively. The Japanese did the same strategy in Round 4 with Takahashi, Yamashita and Koki Hoshino taking the early lead.