RP karters face tough rivals

MANILA, Philippines - RP karters face tough chances against foreign rivals as the 2009 Asian Karting Open Championship stages its final round today at the S.C. Motorsport Circuit in Saraburi, Thailand.

Juha Turalba remains the only hope for the major award as Ready2Race teammate Joey Orduna stands to lose his title defense for the Asian Junior plum of this event organized by Grand Prix International Co., Ltd. (GPI Motorsport) and Kart Association of Thailand (KAT), and powered by Red White Racing of Indonesia under managing director Stanley Iriawan, The Department of Tourism through Assistant Secretary Cynthia Carreon-Norton, and the Philippine Sports Commission.

Orduna, following his disappointing stint in Macau, slipped to fourth place with 68 points in the Formula 125 Open Junior where Indonesian Mohammad Sharif Raharjo is way ahead with 120 points.

Even Roby Benito may have tough luck for the said award though he’s second overall with 75 points, just a point ahead of Malaysian Rahul Raj Mayer who’s in third with 74.

Foreign karters dominate the other classes of this event sanctioned by the CIK/FIA and RAAT. John Zhang of Singapore is way ahead against RP’s RG Romero and Macau’s Paulo Batalha in the ROK Senior; Indonesians Ryan Anthony Monoarfa and Victor Wijaya Susilo will be disputing the Rotax Max Senior crown while Malaysian Gary Mumford hopes to capture the Rotax Max Veteran title over Hongkong’s Tommy Tang

 Chi Ming who’s just five points behind.

In the Junior division, Indonesian Denzel Sofyan leads the ROK Junior division with 95 points or five points ahead of Singaporean Anderson Martomo; while Indonesian Andhika Sasabone hopes to wrap up the Rotax Max Junior crown with 94 points up against Macau’s Andy Chang Wing Chung and Yasuo Iriawan of Red and White Racing in the Rotax Max Junior.

Among the top foreign karters to watch are Christian Villanueve who finished fourth in Macau , Perdana Putra Minang of Red and White Racing, and brothers Perry and Presley Martomo.

 But the Philippines eyes strong chances in the Mini-ROK, the Yamaha Cup Junior and the Yamaha Cup Senior divisions.

Marino Sato and Christian Gaddi share the lead in the Mini-ROK division with identical 108 points; Archim Lorenz Lagman and John Castelar of AUTS Racing hold the 1-2 spots in the Yamaha Cup Junior with 47 and 38 points respectively; while AUTS Racing skipper Indy Villalon lead the Yamaha Cup Senior title race with 32 points with Oliver Aquino of Alessandra Racing and AUTS Racing teammate Joseph Castelar close behind with 30 and 28 points respectively.

The other talented RP karters joining the event are PCR-Tough Gear Racing’s Milo and Estefano Rivera in the Yamaha Cup Junior; Jet Racing’s Javi Benitez and John Alvarez, and Mike Fox in the Formula 125 Open Senior; Macau champion Jette Calderon in the ROK Junior; and Jet Racing’s Franco Reyes in the Formula 125 Open Junior.