Filipino karters are preparing hard in a united fight to regain the overall championship in the penultimate leg of the 2011 Asian Karting Open Championship Series set Nov. 4-6 at the Clark International Speedway.
Reigning champion Stefano Marcelo of Maranello-San Miguel Corporation-Marcelo Racing and Estefano Rivera of FERN-C Racing will be spearheading the country’s quest for honors in the event sanctioned by the Commission International de Karting and the Automobile Association Philippines.
Marcelo, four-time Karter of the Year awardee, is raring to quash foreign challenge in the premiere Formula 125 Open Senior class after missing action in the AKOC leg in Carmona last July.
Rivera, on the other hand, hopes to duplicate his come-from-behind victory in the Formula 125 Open Junior overfavorites Daim Hishammudin of Singapore and Toby Earle of CRG-Thailand.
Over 70 karters from Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand, China, Macau, Hong Kong, Japan and India will be coming over starting Wednesday to vie for the titles in the Formula 125 Open Seniors class, Formula 125 Veteran, Rotax Max Senior, Formula 125 Junior Open, Rotax Max Junior, Mini-ROK, Cadet SQ and the Yamaha FSL Novice and Expert classes.