Young kart hopeful shows trappings of future champ

MANILA, Philippines - His impressive raw talent makes him one of the most promising young discoveries this season.  And his extraordinary feat in clinching the Formula Cadet Novice crown recently in the Coca-Cola Karting race in Batangas further proved the great potentials of Formula-E Racing new recruit Larco Rafael Pesigan Cortez as a future karting champ.

The 11-year-old Don Bosco-Makati student amazed the crowd when he won the crown only on his second competitive race.  But what really earned the respect of the karting community was his second overall finish, upstaging most of the expert karters in the eight-lap, 10-man final race where he finished just 6.552 seconds behind Formula Cadet Expert winner Flynn Jackes.

Larco’s involvement in karting was very much influenced by his idol, Gabe Tayao-Cabrera, who he  chanced upon during a practice round at the Boomland Kart Track. This  further ignited his interest in racing.  He went back to watch Tayao-Cabrera in the actual Red Bull race and decided that kart racing was for him.

Gabe’s mom Karen introduced Larco to Formula-E Racing Management chief Elson Carpio who saw his big potentials during a try-out run.