John Dizon whips up storm, outsprints Jerry Choi in round 4 of karting series

MANILA, Philippines — Reigning Karter of the Year John Dizon took a sensational victory in a thrilling battle in the rain with the veteran Jerry Choi to seize Round 4 of the 2018 Petron Blaze 100 ROK GP Super Karting Series at Carmona Racetrack in Cavite over the weekend.

Starting from pole spot after ruling the first qualifying heat and placing third in the second, Dizon of Edgesport Racing briefly lost the lead in the final race, regained the front in the eight lap and went on to wrap up the 25-lap spin over the world-class 1.90-kilometer track in 21 minutes, 54.940 seconds, a mere 0.424 of a second clear of Choi.

It was a sterling breakthrough in the ROK GP Overall senior event for the karter who opened last year’s series with three straight victories but raced in the shadows of VJ Suba and girl phenom Bianca Bustamante in the first three of the 2018 season’s six rounds.

Dizon and Choi, who settled for the ROK Master and ROK Veteran titles despite posting the fastest lap time of 51.361 seconds, were followed home by Raymond Cudala, 9.778 seconds adrift; Dylan Sy (10.530 secs) and Anthony Baisa (20.761 sec).

Baisa and Arvin Drueco took second and third places, respectively in the Master race with Niel Tupas Jr. finishing second to Choi in the Veteran class.

Miguel Angeles topped the 15-lap Mini ROK Petron XCS crown with a time of 14:05.650, just 2.715 seconds ahead of Zach David, and 3.576 clear of third placer Simon Zhang, Jolo Suba (13.116) and William Calleja (48.347).

David pipped Suba by 0.089 of a second in the day’s closest race to capture the Formula Cadet Overall and Expert titles in 11:41.408 over 12 laps, with Seb Kawpeng, Niel Jigi Tupas and Brice Vincent Baisa, in that order, also making the podium.

Kawpeng ruled the Formula Cadet Novice over Jigi Tupas and Baisa, while Ryan Gohu bested Jock Holganza and Don Batino for the Focal Ceramic Pro Challenge title.