Marcelo scores rare karting feat

MANILA, Philippines - Stefano Marcelo bucked the change in rules and turned in a pair of respectable finishes to emerge champion in both the Petron Karting Super Series and the 2011 Denso KF2-KF3 Cup at Carmona Circuit Philippines in Cavite recently.

Revisions in the rules forced Marcelo to compete in both the championship rounds of the Petron Karting Super Series and the Denso KF2-KF3 Cup. But the 19-year-old Maranello-Marcelo Racing standout proved up to the task and went on to clinch both titles to seal his fourth Karter of the Year award.

It was the biggest feat achieved by any Filipino karter since the sport was revived in 1988 with Marcelo eclipsing the previous record feats by Edgen Dy-Liacco and Pepon Marave, winner of three karting titles.

Marcelo copped the prestigious top karter plum with a total of 200 points, 30 points ahead of VJ Suba.

“We thought we had the title in the bag coming into the weekend. But the consequences of the revised rules nearly denied us of a rare chance for a historic feat. But the two-day event proved that nobody can put a good man down and thank God, destiny really intervened,” said Stefano, who thanked his father John Marcelo, race engineer Jed Neri, his mechanics and his sponsors for their all-out support.

Marcelo also dedicated his victory to his late grandfather and racing legend Eddie Marcelo.

Starting from the tail-end in the finals due to problems in the pre final, Marcelo worked his way up, passing one karter after another to finish sixth in the 20-lap final race of the Petron Karting Super Series. He clocked 14 minutes and 58.448 seconds to claim third place in the ROK senior division.

It was enough to net him the ROK overall crown with 367.5 points and the ROK senior title with 416.7 points.

Marcelo also claimed the runner-up honors in Race 7 of the 2011 Denso KF2-KF3 Cup, clocking 14:37.311, just 0.077 of a second behind to clinch the KF2 diadem with a total of 189 points, 10 points ahead of Suba.