MANILA, Philippines - The Philippines’ Franco Reyes wound up 13th overall in the Junior class in the recently concluded 2011 ROK World Championship, held at the historic South Garda Kart Track in Lonato, Italy.
The 15-year old high school sophomore from the Ateneo de Manila, qualified 12th after the three hotly contested heats, where only 34 of the 70 participating drivers went into the final. The race saw intense fighting among the top drivers characterized by numerous bumping and crashing in the technical corners of the tricky circuit.
“We are satisfied with the result we gained this year, as it is a big improvement from the 22nd place I got last year.” A slightly disappointed Reyes said after the race. “Though, I could have gone into the top ten this year, as I was already in position midway into the race, but the fighting was so intense and I got into a few scraps with a couple of drivers, making me lose the positions I gained in the earlier laps.”
Teammate Jette Calderon, missed the main final by 2 slots after a count back settled the tie for the 34th slot. He started 2nd in the B final sponsored by Bridgestone Tires, and was leading midway and on his way to a podium finish, when he got knocked off by his rivals in the dreaded double apex corner, and had to settle for 16th position in the race.
Reyes will be staying on in Italy to compete in the 2011 Bridgestone Cup Euro Finals this weekend in the KF3 category. Both drivers will be spearheading the country’s bid in the next round of the Asian Karting Open Championships in Clark International Speedway slated Nov. 4-6.
Reyes is currently 3rd in the overall rankings behind defending champion Senna Iriawan of Indonesia, with Calderon backing him up in the country’s quest to regain karting supremacy in the region.