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Tuesday, October 07, 2003
Matteo clinches title
By Glenn C. Michelena
THIRTEEN-YEAR-OLD racing whiz Matteo Guidicelli is undeniably Cebu’s brightest star in karting, and last Sunday, he became the country’s biggest racing sensation as well.
Guidicelli, of Team Cebu-CRG, shone brightest among the Philippine bets when he bagged the prestigious Junior Intercontinental-A crown in the 2003 Casino Filipino-Shell Asian Karting Open Championship at the Carmona Circuit Philippines, Carmona, Cavite.
Fresh off bagging the Alpin Cup in Gordona, Italy only last June, Guidicelli clocked 26:05.758 in the 20-lap race to deliver the Philippines’ lone first-place finish in the event. Michelle Bumgarner of M&M Racing and Christian Barrero of Edgesports made it a 1-2-3 finish for the country.
Other top performers for the country were Paco Rodriguez, also of Team Cebu-CRG, who copped a runner-up finish in the Cadet 85 Class, and Dado Pena of Birel-A3 Motorsports, who checked in second in the Premiere Formula 100 Open Division.
Singapore got its lone win from Nasri Naufal, who bested Indonesian Alida Alexandra Asmasoebrata and third-placer Michelle Bumgarner in the Formula Rotax Max Juniors. Malaysia also got one, courtesy of its own “Karting Boy Wonder” Calvin Wongwengman, who captured the Cadet 85 crown.
Guidicelli actually came out slow and started out second to the last in the six-rider final heat after a loose nut forced him out of the morning’s pre-final race. But he quickly grabbed the pole on the first turn, sending defending champion Michelle Bumgarner to second place.
Everything then went smooth for the Filipinos in the class when the lone foreign entry, Ryan Monoarfa of Indonesia, spun out of the race on the second turn.
Indonesia actually emerged the biggest winner in this event following the exciting wins delivered by Arya Setyaki in the Rotax Max Seniors class and Zahir Ali in the premiere Formula 100 Open.
Setyaki proved himself the most talented showman of the three-day international meet, as he engaged RP’s Mike Tuason in a tough duel en route to completing a come-from-behind victory for the crown. Setyaki eventually clocked 21:15.352, just 0.078 seconds ahead of Tuason.
Another veteran Filipino karter, Mike Sy, was third with a time of 21:25.627. Ali, a veteran of the World Karting Championship, overtook erstwhile leader Dado Peña on the seventh lap and pulled away from the rest of the pack
Mohamed Roheiriaz threatened Peña in the final three laps but the Filipino karter’s defensive driving kept him behind to finish third.
(October 7, 2003 issue)
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