Castaneda, Rido power One Racing to victory

MANILA, Philippines -  One Racing unfurled another superb performance behind the remarkable feats of Daniel Castaneda and new recruit Philip Rido recently in the sixth and penultimate leg of the 2011 Petron Blaze Karting Super Series at the Clark International Speedway.

 Castaneda and Rido piloted the haul of two champion trophies, three runners-up, two third and fourth places and a fifth place finish for One Racing powered by MyPhone, Tony Kart, AIM Racing Gauges, ORG Racing Gear, Sparco, HJC Auto Helmets and the Active Group.

 It was also the first time that One Racing dominated the SQ Kart grid, claiming five of the top six spots. With the exception of overall runner-up Don Batino, the team copped the top spot behind Castaneda with newcomers Lachlan Christie and Rido finishing third and fourth. Gonzalo Julian Jr. and John Effinger checked in fifth and sixth overall in the final race.

“We’re quite impressed with the team’s performance in this race. The boys really gave their all to boost their title chances,” said One Racing team manager Chito Benito.

Castaneda, though only on his first year of racing, raced more like a pro as he swept all three heats, beating all the Expert drivers in the combined race to capture the SQ Novice crown in eight minutes, 33.692 seconds or just 0.010 of a second ahead of Batino.

He also steered the team to a 1-2-3-4 finish in the division together with newcomers, Christie, Rido and Julian Jr.

Rido, on his very first kart race, showed a lot of potential as he bagged the SQ Veteran title and likewise made it a 1-2-3 finish in the class together with Julian Jr. and Effinger.

Effinger copped the runner-up trophy in the Expert class, Luigi Lachica took fourth place in the SQ Cadet Novice while stalwart Juha Turalba landed fifth in the ROK Senior class.

Quite surprisingly, Christie posted the fastest laptime of 1:04.226 in the final race.

Overall, Castaneda claimed the lead in the hunt for the SQ Novice plum with 329 points while teammate Julian Jr. is close behind with 318.

Julian Jr. still leads the campaign for the SQ Veteran crown with 363 points with teammate Effinger just one point behind at 362.