Monday, September 10, 2007 Marcelo conquers turf; heat mars race
JOHN Stefano Marcelo of the Marcelo Racing Team outshone homegrown race hero Matteo Guidicelli in his own turf in the final heat of the 125 Open Division of the 6th Shell Super Kart series at the Kartzone yesterday.
However, controversy visited the two-day race as organizers and race-track owner had to call the police to defuse tension after complaints were raised on why Marcelo won the second heat despite allegedly being last on the pole.
Three patrol cars had to respond to the request for security backup to pacify things.
“All they asked for was security. We dispatched Car No. 014, the other cars just joined probably to watch the race,” said Base control operator of 166 Angelo Zambo.
Gerard Madrigal, the head of the Alessandra Madrigal Racing Team, was later escorted out of the race track to prevent further commotion.
“Gerard Madrigal tried to bribe and threatened Marcelo Racing Group mechanic. He offered P50,000 to sabotage the run of Stefano or else he will harm the mechanic,” Marcelo Racing Team technical director Jed Neri told Sun.Star-Cebu.
Complaint
MRT had to file a complaint against Madrigal at the technical committee, which ruled to evict the latter out of the race track to cool things down.
According to Neri, trouble began when the 15-year-old Marcelo won the second heat yesterday morning after placing last in last Saturday’s first heat.
“Probably, they wanted to make sure that their bet will win because Stefano was last during the first heat, but came out winner in the second heat,” added Neri.
However, none of the members of the Alessandra Madrigal Racing Group was able to refute the claim of their opposition.
Both the Marcelo RT and the Alessandra Madrigal Racing Group are based in Manila. They are rivals in many Karting series.
But word hovered around the race track that the Marcelo RT put up a big sum for engines more superior than that of the Alessandra Madrigal Racing Group’s.
Those who witnessed the commotion said the police had to stay close because the Madrigal group was allegedly “armed and dangerous.”
Consistency
Stefano Marcelo was ahead of Guidicelli by at least 100 meters at the final lap.
“I was consistent around there and I had my focus on. Matteo is a master driver especially on the rain but luckily I had a good start and kept my distance all throughout the race,” Marcelo told Sun.Star after he won the third and final heat.
Marcelo was using a KF2 engine, which is quicker and well-balanced as he drove at consistent pace around the race track with grace and speed while Guidicelli shook his head as he trailed the 15-year-old karting wonder.
It also helped Marcelo when his closest competitor Alessan-dra Madrigal suffered engine trouble and rammed into the barrier after the fourth lap.
The heavy rain yesterday cancelled the Junior ROK and mini Rok final heats but Cebu had a revelation in the 11-year-old Antonio Carcel who topped the Mini Rok race. (RCM)
