Saturday, October 20, 2007 Decent finish, and an idol’s autograph
CEBUANO junior karter Emmanuel Jette Calderon III made a decent finish in his first try in the ROK Cup International Finals at the Pista South Garda Karting in Lonato, Italy last week.
Calderon, the 10-year-old karting stalwart ranked 16th after the final round in the mini ROK division, a finish he is still proud of considering that this is his first time in the international championship.
“We are still happy even if Jette did not make it to the podium. As a first-timer in Italy, making it to the 16th place is still an advantage,” said Jette’s mother Janette.
The division was dominated by home racers Steven Brotto and Andrea Pastorino, who exploited home track advantage to win the top two spots. The third place was won by Mitchell Licen of Sud
Calderon posted a total time of 10:28.211. Fellow Filipino Joseph Orduna finished a blip ahead of him with a time of 10:26.
Finishing in this rank is something that the homegrown karter, who trains at the Kartzone in Mabolo, can be proud of as he was up against top racers from Belgium, Canada, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Greece, Italy, Japan, Lithuania, Macao, Malaysia, Netherland, Norway, Poland, Singapore, South Africa, Spain, Switzerland, Thailand and Turchia.
For a 10-year-old, not making the top three could be a reason to be disappointed, but this feeling was eclipsed when his idol, renowned F1 racer Michael Schumacher came to watch the final runs in the race track that is a smaller version of where he races on.
“Jette was ecstatic when he came to watch. Everybody was so thrilled because it was a surprise. Nobody knew that he will watch the race,” added Janette.
And like a prize, perhaps more important than the winning trophy, the young Calderon had his shirt and name board autographed by Schumi himself.
Meanwhile, the other Cebuano in the race, Paco Rodriguez, failed to make it to the final round. Paco, who was supposedly using a brand new ROK junior engine for his kart, ironically suffered engine trouble for him to bomb out of the race early.
Rodriguez, the reigning Junior Karter of the Year, is a first year high school student of Sacred Heart School Jesuit.
Rodriguez and Calderon earned the slot to the Italy race after topping in their respective divisions of the Pepsi Shell Superkarting Series at the Kartzone in Mabolo.
Meanwhile, coming up with the best finish for the Philippine team, was Stefano Marcelo, who made it to 10th place in the 125 ROK Cup. (MCB)
