Miranda keeps kart titles by the skin of his teeth

MANILA, Philippines - Daniel Miranda of Cebuana Lhuillier found a new challenger in  young Seaoil-DC-Kilton karter Gabe Tayao-Cabrera as he captured his second straight title recently in the second leg of the 2013 Coca-Cola Karting Super Series at the Batangas Racing Circuit.

Despite the absence of top guns Milo and Estefano Rivera, the win didn’t come easy for the 15-year-old Miranda as Cabrera engaged him in a tight battle all the way from the qualifying to the pre-final and final races to clinch both the ROK senior and overall crowns.

In the qualifying heat, Miranda managed to dodge Cabrera’s siege by a slim 0.625 of a second.

In the pre-final  Cabrera  diced for the lead three times before Miranda wrested the lead for good at the last turn and won it with a mere  0.162-second margin.

Cabrera  again challenged Miranda in the 10-lap final race but the experienced Miranda shook off the threat  to complete a sweep of the races by just 0.205 of a second.

CJ Tsui of Formula-E Racing bagged  third place in the ROK overall class with Sacha Feliciano and Raymond Cudala of Tough Gear Racing checking in fourth and fifth, respectively.

Tsui also copped runner-up honors in the senior division, ahead of Feliciano  (third) and Liam Linao (fourth).

For all his amazing feat, the  hardworking Cabrera  drew the loudest cheers for the four trophies he earned in the day.

Aside from the overall runner-up, the youngest recruit of Japan’s top factory team Kosmic also took the junior title over Cudala and Jaz Monzones and the clubman plum over Liam Linao.

He also beat all Expert drivers in the combined race to  make it back-to-back in the Formula SL Novice class over AT Tuason of TRS Karting Kids, third placer Mark Francis Tanlu of Auts Racing, fourth placer Kevin Ty and fifth placer Sean Smith,

Yvana Carangan of Auts Racing, who checked  in second behind Cabrera  in the  combined race, copped the Formula SL Expert title over Carlos Lorenzo of CityKart with Auts Racing teammates Carl Luig and Brian Thorp claiming third and fourth, respectively.

Joining the winners was Raul Barreto, SQ Karting Expert winnver over Michael Jordan and third placer Paulo Ferrer.  Jordan likewise went home with the SQ Karting Veteran crown.

The next karting race is the Philippine round of the 2013 Asian Karting Open Championship and Round 3 of the 2013 Coca-Cola KF2-KF3 Cup Series slated May 18-19 at the Carmona Racetrack.

The  event  is sponsored by Coca-Cola Philippines and Yokohama  and sanctioned by the Automobile Association Philippines.

More information: Carmona Racetrack c/o Rose Feria at 845-0745, 889-3389, 845-3287 or  845-4142 or www.asiankarting.com.