Young Filipino racing ace William Riley Go extended his victorious streak by ruling the Mini ROK class in the third round of the 2019 Asian Karting Open Championships (AKOC) sponsored by Petron at Clark International Speedway’s kart track in Pampanga recently.
Already the winner of the first two legs of the AKOC series in Beijing and at Kartodromo de Coloane in Macau, the 11-year-old from Cebu swept all three qualifying heats before topping the 13-lap final around the sleek 1.25-kilometer track in 11 minutes and 49.664 seconds.
China’s Enzo Yeh followed Go home, 4.706 seconds behind, with Simon Zhang another 6.812 adrift in third. Melwin William Tan and Seb Kawpeng rounded out the podium finishers.
Go’s tour de force added to Bianca Bustamante’s triumph in the Formula 125 Junior race and John Dizon’s strong runner-up finish to Japan’s Ayato Iwasaki in the Senior class as Filipino karters more than held their own against their Asian peers.
Vortex Suba swept the two qualifying heats and then the 10-lap final of the Formula Cadet Novice/Petron Academy Cadet combined race in 9:49.727, pipping Joaquin Ricardo Yulo by 0.549 of a second.
Yulo, Nocom, Jesus Garcia, Xeane Oliver Fredeluces and Gina Casimiro filled the Top 5 in the Petron Academy Cadet race, while Maria Meliza Shaniah Quinones topped the Intermediate class over Luigi Co.