Cabrera Asian Karting Macau junior champion

MANILA, Philippines - Seaoil-DC karter Gabriel Tayao Cabrera romped off with the Formula 125 Junior Open crown in the opening leg of the 2014 Asian Karting Open Championship held recently at the Kartodromo de Coloane Circuit in Macau.

Cabrera managed to top the qualifying heats enough to secure pole position in the 15-lap pre-finals where he clocked in the fastest laptime of 50.632 seconds to pull ahead and claim the checquered flag with a 2.952 margin of victory.

Backed by Point Zero Project, Media Magic and Imola Industries, the 14-year-old Filipino amazed the crowd by executing a flawless defensive driving strategy throughout the 18-lap finals to compensate for his slower engine compared to his closest, better-equipped  Chinese rival. 

 â€œIt was a challenge to remain very controlled throughout the event since I could not afford any room for error.  My mechanic Joesefilo Bariquit worked hard with me in maximizing the equipment we had to survive the finals,” said Cabrera. 

 Cabrera is slated to participate in the upcoming third leg of the Petron Blaze ROK local series, after which he will head to Malaysia to resume his training as a driver for elite Rotax team ART Grand Prix Asia. 

 He will fly to Taiwan to again represent the Philippines in the second leg of the Asian Karting Open Championship Series.