Singaporean tops Asian karting; Filipino challenge conks out

MANILA, Philippines—Singaporean Anderson Martono of Kartmaster pulled off a surprise victory in the premier Formula 125 Open Seniors class Sunday in the penultimate round of the 2011 Asian Karting Open Championship at the Clark International Speedway.

Picking up from where compatriot Andrew Tang left off, the 14-year-old Martono bested Filipino Archim Lagman in a tight finish.

Martono clocked 14 minutes and 50.669 seconds, just three tenths of a second faster than Lagman.

The Jakarta-based Martono’s chances looked bright after Malaysian ace Wei Ron Tan and Filipino bets Milo Rivera of FERN-C Racing and four-time champion Stefano Marcelo of Maranello-San Miguel Corporation-Marcelo Racing— who topped Saturday’s qualifying—suffered a myriad of problems on race-day.

Marcelo, hurt following Saturday’s accident with Tang, skipped the race.

Rivera slowed down while Tan suffered a ceased engine.

Carrying the fight for the Philippines in their absence, Lagman pressed Martono all the way to the finish line.

Lagman sustained his good form as he topped the Yamaha Cup expert class over Cebuano Joseph Marwin Rojo, Yvana Carangan and Tonyo Carcel.

Bobby Domingo settled for third in the premiere division, followed by Tommy Rizky Adrian of Indonesia and Vincent Junius Nathan.

Indonesia’s Yasuo Senna Iriawan of Red White Racing ruled the Formula 125 Open Juniors to tighten his grip on the solo leadership in the series.

Sasakorn Chaimongkol of Thailand, Estefano Rivera and Franco Reyes of Industria Racing dominated the early goings but a mix-up in the last seven laps, allowed Iriawan to zoom ahead to stay.

Iriawan finished the 12-lap race in 12 minutes and 6.138 seconds just 0.233 seconds ahead of Rivera.

Chaimongkol ended up third while Reyes and India’s Arjun Maini of Gautama Maini Racing wound up fourth and fifth, respectively.

Another Indonesian, Perdana Putra Minang ruled the Mini-ROK event, besting the likes of Thai Veravich Wongsanganan of Maxima Motorsports and Indian Kush Maini of Gautama Maini Racing.

Also getting a piece of the limelight was Sacha Feliciano of FERN-C Racing, who emerged the overall Formula SL Novice champion.

Feliciano stamped her class anew in the Yamaha Cup Juniors, where she beat Tuason Racing’s Basti Escalante, Jaz Monzones, Kali Carcel and Sean Velasco.

Other winners: William Casequin of Tuason Racing (Cadet SQ expert), Xedrei Daquigan of FERN-C Racing (Cadet SQ novice), Raul Barretto (SQ expert), Choi Jerry Acuna (SQ novice class) and John Effinger (SQ veterans division.