Rivera, Anton dominate Taiwan gymkhana race

THE CRACK Philippine pair of national slalom champion Milo Rivera and the multi-titled Carlos Anton bested entries from 13 other countries to win the Taiwan Auto Gymkhana Prix recently.

Rivera, for the third consecutive year the country’s finest slalom racer, also topped the individual qualifying races in 170.184 seconds with Anton right behind him in second place in 171.184.

The PH team bested Taiwan-A in the finals of the competition where driving skills are measured by how fast an entry negotiates a technical track marked by pylons.

Rivera and Anton earlier eliminated Nepal and Taiwan-D to earn a shot in the semifinals against South Korea, which had earlier knocked out powerhouse Japan.

In the thrilling finals, Rivera gave Team PH the lead over Taiwanese racing legend Lian Wei-sheng, who hit a pylon, before Anton sealed the title by keeping the buffer against Lin Di-jun.

“The Taiwanese had the crowd behind them, so we were the underdogs,” said Rivera.

“I thank my teammate who is an immensely talented driver,” Anton, the eight-time national Driver of the Year awardee, said of Milo, nephew of Noel Rivera, Anton’s teammate when finished third in the event 11 years ago. Steve Silva, Contributor

Individual qualifying No. 3 to No. 5: Demas Agil Ramadani, Indonesia (174.533), Tetsuya Yamano, Japan (176.524), Yea Kai-cing, Taiwan (180.341).