Petron series under way at Carmona

MANILA, Philippines - San Miguel Corporation motorsports director Jose “Boy” Ochoa and AAP steward Jun Espino are the guests of honor at the start of the seven-leg 2011 Petron Karting Super Series today at the Carmona Circuit Philippines.

Ochoa will keynote the opening ceremonies at 11:30 a.m. right after the qualifying time trials and the qualifying heats of this event sanctioned by the Automobile Association Philippines (AAP) and sponsored by Petron, SMC, Denso Iridium Power and Yokohama Phils.

Espino will declare the race open while Philippine motorsports godfather Johnny Tan will deliver the closing remarks.

Leading the oath of sportsmanship are last year’s top winners - cadet karter of the year Basti Escalante, clubman karter Jette Calderon, top rookie Joseph Marvin Rojo, junior karter of the year Roby Benito. International junior karter Franco Reyes and international senior karter of the year Stefano Marcelo.

With Petron as title sponsor, this year’s series features renewed rivalries and new recruits reinforcing top teams Ready2Race, Jet Racing, AUTS, Marcelo Racing, GP1 Racing, Tuason Racing School and FERN-C Racing in their bids for the titles in the ROK overall, senior, junior and novice, Formula SL novice, expert and heavy, mini-ROK and ccadet classes.

While defending champion Stefano Marcelo of Maranello-SMC-Marcelo Racing is eyeing to etch karting history, Roby Benito of Ready2Race is expected to step up his game as the former’s toughest rival for the crown.

Marcelo, the 18-year-old Ateneo student who equaled the feats of three-time titlists Pepon Marave and Edgen Dy-Liacco, will be gunning for an unprecedented fourth Karter-of-the-Year plum that will make him yet the greatest all-time Filipino karting champ.

Benito is seeking his first KOY crown after clinching the top junior karter award last season. He was close to a double feat last year, losing the title just a few points behind Marcelo.

Joining the hunt for the top plum are Franco Reyes of Jet Racing, Juha Turalba of Ready2Race, Milo Rivera of Fern-C Racing, and the Castelar Racing brothers Joseph and John who will be moving up to the ROK Senior division.

The junior karter crown will be a close fight among last year’s novice karter Jette Calderon of Jet Racing, Migs Lagman, Tonyo Carcel of AUTS Racing, Basti Escalante and CJ Tsui of Ready2Race-Tuason Racing, Daniel Miranda of Cebuana Lhuillier, Adrian Tambuyat and Estefano Rivera of Fern-C Racing in a tight fight for the title.

New faces will strut their wares in the Mini-ROK and Cadet divisions.

The other legs are set April 16-17 at the Batangas Racing Circuit, June 25-26 at Boomland, July 30-31 at Carmona, Aug. 27-28 at the Enchanted Kingdom, Sept. 24-25 at Clark and Oct. 22-23 for the championship round in Carmona.

Information: Carmona Racetrack c/o Rose Feria at 817-2241 or visit the website www.asiankarting.com.