Defending Philippine Touring Car champion Carlos Anton pressed his bid for another title by ruling Race 7 held recently at Clark International Speedway.
Anton, driving the Ethanworx-WorksBell Japan Honda FD, took pole position with a time of 1 minute and 10.598 seconds, beating teammate and championship leader Paolo Mantolino and Joey Pery.
Anton has won four out of eight races so far with mechanical troubles slowing him down in the other races. He’s currently tied with Pery for second place with 160 points.
Mantolino leads with 187 points.
Anton won the morning race by a comfortable margin but transmission cables failed him in Race 8 after a collision with Pery after the first lap.
Anton was still ahead until the fourth lap but eventually settled for second.
“It was hard being stuck in fourth gear for the rest of the race but I’m glad I still finished in second place,” said Anton.
“It will be very hard to catch Paolo with just four races remaining and being 27 points down. Joey and I are tied for second so we will both be pushing hard to gain ground on Paolo.”
Team owner John Mark Ong said Anton has had a tough season so far but he knows he can bounce back in the final four races.
“We will be preparing the car very well for the final rounds,” said Ong. Steve Silva, Contributor