Anton still man to beat in Hillclimb

MANILA, Philippines - Multi-titled racing champ Carlos Anton once again proved why he’s still the driver to beat when he pulled off a record-breaking feat in the kickoff of the 2010 Hillclimb championship series in La Union.

Fresh from clinching his third AAP Driver of the Year Award for hillclimb racing, Anton bested the field of over 35 racers from all over the country when he blasted through the 2-km Baksil stage in San Fernando, La Union, setting a new stage record of 1:46.44.

“It’s a great way to start the year after our sponsors Mark Young-Yokohama, Hornitex and Total re-signed with us for the season. I think this is the best gift I can give them for continuing their support,” Anton said after the race.

Anton’s teammate Frankie Domingo fought hard in Group 2 to win the heavily contested class with a dominant run of 2:01.10 using Yokohama’s S-drive tire while Haruhito Ono from Japan beat Alfie Concepcion of Total-Hornitex for Group 4 honors.

Ramsey Kairuz also from Baguio, topped Group 3 ahead of Ryan Yu.

Domingo benefited from a change of rules this year in Group 2 where only street cars are allowed in the class to level the playing field. Jet Ramos, driving a turbo Starlet, came in second in the class.

Anton’s main rival for the best time of the day was Cabspeed stalwart Marc Thomann who used a turbo- charged Honda to close off with a time of 1:49.79.

“The ADVAN A050 tire Yokohama provided us this year seems to work well with our CRX tuned by Mohspeed’s Morris Miranda; we are happy to start our defense of the title this way,” said Anton’s team owner Mark Young.

The historic car class was won by Pong Soriano, followed by Eko Adan and Dennis Ku.