Milo Rivera, Stefano Marcelo close behind Malaysian ace

MANILA, Philippines—Two Filipino bets vie for an upset as Malaysian Wei Ron Tan shoots for the title in the 2011 Asian Karting Open Championship today at the Clark International Speedway.

Milo Rivera and four-time champion Stefano Marcelo take the 2-3 spots behind Tan, who claimed the No. 1 grid after finishing in the top two of the qualifying heats of the penultimate round Saturday.

A total of 92 karters from 30 teams are vying for the championship in the Formula 125 Open Seniors, Formula 125 Open Juniors, Formula Open Veteran, Mini-ROK, Yamaha Expert, Yamaha Novice, SQ Expert, SQ Novice and SQ Cadet classes.

With Thai ace karter Kittitat Vongprai a no-show in the Formula 125 Open Seniors, the Philippines aims to rule the class behind Marcelo of Maranello-San Miguel Corporation-Marcelo Racing and Alessandra Madrigal of Alessandra Racing.

Joining the duo’s bid are One Racing Team’s Juha Turalba and Roby Benito, Fern-C Racing’s Vencer John Suba and Milo Rivera, AUTS Racing’s Fernando Villalon and Joseph Castelar, Industria Racing’s Franco Reyes, and RP-1’s Archim Lagman.

Estefano Rivera of Fern-C Racing leads the Philippine campaign in the Formula 125 Open Junior along with Reyes, Fern-C Racing teammates Vrei-Ar Suba and Matthew Chan, Industria Racing’s Jette Calderon and CJ Tsui, and AUTS Racing’s Tonyo Carcel.

But out to challenge the local crew are Indonesians Yasuo Senna Iriawan of Red White Racing, Darma MH of Humpuss Junior Racing and Andi Tangguh Farid Faqih; Malaysians Timothy Yeo of IRU 1 Racing and Daniel Adam Woodroof; Thailand’s Sasakorn Chaimongkol of Maxima Motorsports and Singapore’s Bin Hishammudin.

Clark Development Corporation president lawyer Felipe Antonio-Remollo and Automobile Association Philippines Motorsports committee chair Armando Eduque will grace the 11:30 a.m. program, just right before the pre-final and final races of the international motorsports event sanctioned by the Commission International de Karting.