Top karters vie in EK leg

MANILA, Philippines - The country’s finest karters gear up for a showdown in the fifth leg of the Petron Blaze Karting Super Series set this weekend at Enchanted Kingdom in Sta. Rosa, Laguna.

Defending champion Stefano Marcelo of Maranello-San Miguel Corp.-Marcelo Racing and Vencer John Suba of FERN-C Racing are expected to slug it out for top honors in the event sanctioned by the Automobile Association Philippines (AAP).

Only 10 points separate the top two contenders for the coveted Karter of the Year award in the event sponsored by Petron Blaze 100, San Miguel Corporation, Denso Iridium Power, Motorstar Eastway and Yokohama Philippines.

Marcelo, an Ateneo law student, goes for a crucial victory that would firm up his bid for a record fourth Karter of the Year award.

He has 181 points in the premiere ROK Overall class and tallied 201 points in the ROK Seniors class.

Ten points behind is Suba, who also needed the win to boost his own bid for a first major career victory.

He upstaged Marcelo on a rented engine from Kart Plaza to top the Batangas leg last April with a repeat tipped to net him the solo leadership.

Joining them in the combined race are Jette Calderon, CJ Tsui and Franco Reyes of Industria Racing, Juha Turalba and Roby Benito of One Racing, FERN-C Racing’s Milo and Estefano Rivera, Vrei-AR Suba and Matthew Chan and Kart Plaza’s Arvin Drueco.

The SQ Kart Race is also expected to be fierce with Peterson Lim of Industria Racing and Jon Julian fighting for the top spot.

Following his victory at the Asian Karting Open, Lim wrested the No. 1 spot from perennial winner Don Batino in the SQ Expert class with a total of 176 points, six points ahead of the latter. 

Raul Barreto is in third overall with 151 while Nike Mora and John Effinger stood in fourth and fifth with 147 and 133 points, respectively.

Julian seeks to keep his lead in both the SQ Novice and SQ Veterans class.

He holds a total of 222 points in the SQ Novice class up against Mark Laxa (189) and teammate Daniel Castaneda (185) and garnered a total of 209 points in the SQ Veteran division over John Effinger (190) and Rolan de Guzman (168).

Also eyeing a crucial win is John Castelar of AUTS Racing who leads the Formula SL Expert class with 233 points over Cebuano Joseph Marwin Rojo of Industria Racing (219) and lady karter Yvana Carangan.

For details, contact Carmona Racetrack c/o Rose Feria at 845-0745, 889-3389, 845-3287 and 845-4142 or visit www.asiankarting.com.