THE BACK-UP turned out to be the the big winner.
Filling in for another Filipino racer, Jacob Ang of Eagle Cement captured his first international title by ruling the Formula Open 125 juniors division of the 2015 Asian Karting Open Championships recently at Kartodromo de Coloane Circuit in Macau.
“I just can’t describe the feeling when I was waving the Philippine flag during the awarding ceremony,” said Ang, who triumphed over crack karters from Macau, Hong Kong, Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia and Australia.
“It was indeed a big honor to bring pride and glory for the country.”
The 13-year-old Ang, a replacement for compatriot Gabe Cabrera, clocked the fastest lap time of 49.827 seconds in the final heat to secure victory.
Ang, who seized the pole position and stayed in command with his defensive maneuvers, pipped Australia’s Flynn Jackes by just a .0607 of a second at the finish line.
Cabrera begged off from the race due to a prior commitment.
Another Filipino karter Mikey Jordan secured third place, followed by Macau’s Charles Leong Hon Chio and Tai Zulberti of CityKart.
Although a newcomer in the international karting scene, Ang quickly made his presence felt by ruling the pre-final heat.
With three laps to go in the final heat, Ang made his most decisive move by turning in the fastest lap to finally overcome Jackes. Jasmine W. Payo