Al Miguel Quiñones, Miguel Judd Angeles and Tara Laconico clinched slots in the small but compact Philippine karting team that will join former Asian junior champion Bianca Bustamante in the ROK Cup Superfinals on Oct. 9 to 13 at South Garda Karting Track in Lonato, Italy.
Quiñones, a 16-year-old Grade 10 student at Brent International School Manila, punched a ticket to Italy by pacing the ROK junior class with 399.5 points after the first six of the 12-round 2019 Petron ROK GP Super Karting Series.
The intrepid son of a cosmetic surgeon lay 91.5 points clear of Laconico who, like Quiñones and his fellow division topnotchers Angeles and Bustamante, won vouchers worth 1,000 Euros each for the prestigious international competition.
Going into the third leg of the Asian Karting Open Championships (AKOC) on Sept. 19 to 22 at Clark International Speedway’s kart track in Pampanga, Bustamante led the ROK GP senior class of the national Petron series with 339 points, with Angeles well ahead in the Mini ROK bracket with 504.
Several gifted Filipino karters, including veteran European campaigners Jacob Ang and Eduardo “EJ” Coseteng, have seen action in Lonato over the years, gaining skills they have used with much success on the Asian karting scene.