Young spirit pulls thru in national drag racing

MANILA, Philippines - Defending Expert class champion Jonathan Young of JCT-Blanche unveiled unrelenting spirit in his determined quest for solo leadership via a come-from-behind triumph recently in the combined 2010 National Drag Racing Championship and 2010 Philippine Drag Racing Championship-Northern Series at the Clark International Speedway.

It was next-to-impossible feat for Young, who had to go through the losers’ bracket after being beaten by Berg Capiz in their first elimination run of this event sanctioned by the Automobile Association Philippines and supported by San Miguel Corporation, Pilipinas Shell, Yokohama, Pagcor, Aeromed, Hastings Motor Corporation, Sel J Pharma-Therasil Lozenges, Inside Racing and Stoplight TV.

But he worked his way up, turning back Dominic Angelo de la Cruz of Mohspeed to gain a wild card entry into the winners’ bracket.

Then he prevailed over Dondon Tubongbanua, got back at Capiz in the quarterfinals and pulled a 12.521-second winning run over Carlo Manuel of Pit21 to barge into the finals against TJ Pangilinan of Cabspeed.

Good thing for Young, his car managed to survive the tough ordeal and he even posted a fairly consistent time of 12.641 seconds against Pangilinan (13.891).

Arvin Jay Millet prevailed over Carlo Manuel with a time of 13.387 to claim third place.

Winning the other races were Apollo Gaboy and Darwin Puno of Team Poac.

Gaboy struggled to rule four close duels to get into the finals before pulling a big upset over former champion Vic Mallare of Team Ready for the Sportsman crown.

Mallare was much favored with his fast time of 14.3 seconds but lapsed into a breakout violation in the final showdown as Gaboy copped the Sportsman victory with a time of 15.134 seconds.

Boodie Dabasol of G-Motors took third place.

Puno, likewise, got the lucky breaks to capture the Hotstreet crown clocking 18.117 seconds over newbie Ray Marthyn Mariano who ended in a red-light violation for the runner-up place.

Defending champion Jeannette Go wound up third.With the culmination of the Northern Series, the National Drag Racing Championship will shift action to the Batangas Racing Circuit on March 13. For further details, interested parties may log on at www.batangasracingcircuit.com or contact the Batangas Racing Circuit c/o Nelson Gayola or Rodini Rivera at (632) 817-2241, 729-5365 or fax 815.