Cabrera tops kickoff leg of KF kart seniors class

GABE Tayao Cabrera, now campaigning in the seniors class, lived up to expectations when he dominated the premier KF Senior Blaze 100 class in the recent kickoff of the 2015 KF Karting Super Series at Carmona Racetrack in Laguna.

The 15-year-old Cabrera, last year’s top junior karter, won three of the first four rounds against the likes of comebacking 2012 Karter of the Year Vencer John Suba.

Cabrera won over Suba by 1.747 seconds in the first round but Suba leveled the score in the afternoon’s second round by besting newcomer Ben Grimes, as Cabrera withdrew due to mechanical problems with five laps to go.

Cabrera swept the next day’s Round 3 by 0.036 of a second and Round 4, where he got entangled with Suba’s kart, by 6.967 seconds.

“VJ showed me that racing skills are not enough,” said Cabrera. “He showed that it also takes brains, quick thinking, strategy, defensive techniques and more importantly, focus in shaping up championship character.”

With his near-sweep, Cabrera led the pack for the KF Karter of the Year crown and the coveted 2015 Karter of the Year plum.