Female prodigy stamps class in Petron karting tilt

PUERTO PRINCESA CITY— Racing prodigy Bianca Bustamante put on a fascinating display of skill and tenacity for a karter so young to upend her veteran rivals and rule Rounds 2 and 3 of the 2018 Petron Super Karting Series at the Palawan International Circuit here over the weekend.

Not since Filipino-Swiss formula racer Michelle Bumgartner a decade ago has a female karter thoroughly stamped her class on the male-dominated field as the 13-year-old Bustamante of Formula E Racing Team topped both legs of the ROK GP Overall Race over the favored John Dizon.

The seventh grader from Assumption College, an entry in the Junior ROK category of the combined race, bested Dizon by 10.804 seconds with a time of 19 minutes and 52.604 seconds in 19 laps over the exacting 1.2-kilometer circuit in Round 2 on Saturday. She came back the next day to repeat over Dizon by a mere 0.090 of a second in 19:56.229 in Round 3.

Dizon, the 16-year-old phenom from Imus, Cavite, settled for both rounds’ Senior ROK titles over Anthony Baisa (Round 2) and Arvin Drueco (Round 3).

Tammy Victoria Baisa and Miguel Joseph Quinones exchanged places behind Bustamante, already the winner of two races in the China karting circuit, on the podium in Rounds 2 and 3 of the Junior ROK class.