Carangan settles for 2nd in kart series

MANILA, Philippines - Lady karter Yvana Carangan settled for runner-up honors in the Formula SL Expert class while two other AUTS Racing bets also turned in second place finishes in the fourth leg of the National Karting Series at the Carmona Racetrack recently.

This marked the first time that the team had a fruitless campaign in the event but Carangan and company have vowed to do better the next time around. Carl Luig and Mark Francis Tanlu also placed second in their respective events while Brian Thorp wound up third.

“It’s one of those races when luck wasn’t on our side. Despite giving more than 100 percent, our effort still fell short,” said AUTSracing team manager Martin Alvendia.

“Win or lose, the lessons learned from each journey matter most to improve one’s craft and be better equipped for the next battle,” said Indy Villalon, a multiple local and international kart champion who rigidly prepared and trained the AUTSracing karters.

The team was backed by Kipling’s, BIREL Competition Karts, YAMAHA Winforce, Maynilad Water Services, Powerade Ion by Coca-Cola Bottlers, Kart Care Lubricants and FreeLine Go Kart Parts.

Luig clinched second place in the Formula SL Novice while Thorp, who ruled the Boomland leg, ended up third following his crucial maneuver just before crossing the finish line.

Tanlu also fell short of his comeback bid, finishing sixth overall in the 15-lap combined Formula Cadet Expert and Novice Final race behind four Expert karters and newcomer Jacob Ang as the team placed third.

Meanwhile, Raymond Cudala posted the third best time of 49.399 behind Thorp’s 49.279 and Luig’s 49.309 while Carangan clocked the fifth best time of 49.587.

Consistent laptimes and defensive moves steered Cudala to a sweep of the qualifying, pre-final and the 20-lap final race where he diced for the lead several times against Formula SL Expert frontrunner Jazz  Monzones.

Luig settled for third overall just 0.485 seconds behind runner-up Monzones as Thorp and Carangan checked in fourth and fifth, respectively, nearly 15 seconds later.

For details on AUTSracing team, log on to [email protected] or call Martin Alvendia at 09188031036.