Marcelo sets higher goals on karting return

MANILA, Philippines - European racing will have to take a backseat as two-time karting champion Stefano Marcelo of San Miguel Corporation-Maranello-Marcelo Racing has some serious business to deal with in his comeback in the local motorsports scene.

First, the 17-year-old Marcelo will pursue college education with particular interest of finishing a bachelor’s degree in law.

Second, he’s planning to complement his karting championship campaign with circuit car racing as he’s set to join the Toyota Yaris Cup organized by RP Motorsports godfather Johnny Tan next month.

And third, he’s keen on capturing a third Karter of the Year award to equal the feats of his great predecessors Edgen Dy-Liacco and Pepon Marave and hopefully clinch an unprecedented fourth or fifth crown in the years to come.

And Marcelo really means serious business being back with his previous team brand Maranello Racing Karts as proven by his perfect feat of sweeping the time trials, the qualifying heat, the pre-final and the final race of the season opener of the 2010 Magnolia Purewater Karting Super Series recently at the Carmona Race Track.

After a year’s stint with world renowned factory team TonyKart, Marcelo still flashed his top form to capture both the ROK Senior and the ROK Overall titles, displaying defensive skills and consistent driving to control the front seat from coast-to-coast before completing the 20-lap race in 14 minutes, 29.502 seconds.

Posting a fastest laptime of 43.750 seconds, he checked in 2.959 seconds ahead of Ready2Race ace karter Juha Turalba.

Prior to that, he started his title defense in the Pagcor Sports KF2-KF3 Cup on a high note as he now claimed solo leadership following his big triumph in Race 3.

But moreover, he’s just simply happy to be more visible in the local karting scene to set the standard for the younger future champions of Philippine karting.

“Racing abroad will have to wait for now as there are other big tasks ahead of me. But that’s not the end of my dream of making it big in the international scene. I’m still young and still have the time to pursue that dream in the near future,” said Marcelo.

 “Honestly, I love racing here in the Philippines more because we’re like one big family in karting. And it makes me proud that these young kids are improving a lot and makes the competition even tougher for me,” he added.