MANILA, Philippines - Despite a disappointing setback in Macau, RP top karter Juha Turalba of Ready2Race still remains on course for the coveted Asian Karter of the Year award as the 2009 Asian Karting Open Championship winds up in Saraburi, Thailand on Nov. 6-8.
Turalba, 15, hopes to keep the Asian Karting crown for the Philippines as he still enjoys solo leadership with 95 points in the premier Formula 125 Open Senior class of this event powered by Red White Racing of Indonesia under managing director Stanley Iriawan, the Department of Tourism through Assec. Cynthia Carreon-Norton, and the Philippine Sports Commission.
Far from his resounding victory in Indonesia, Turalba failed to qualify for the pre-final as he figured in a bad crash in the first heat where he bent his chassis and was forced to retire early. He tried to get back in action as he went to the grass several times to get his engine going but to no avail.
If he wins in Thailand, he will be the fourth Filipino to claim the crown after Michele Bumgarner’s three-year reign, Marlon Stockinger’s feat in 2006 and Stefano Marcelo’s triumph in 2007.
But he will have his hands full against Thailand’s triple firepower – defending champion Tin Sritrai, Pasin Lathouras and Jonathan Reveille.
Sritrai is looking forward to a back-to-back Asian karting plum as he’s second overall with 81 points while Lathouras is third with 47. Reveille, on the other hand, is the most consistent Thai karter in Macau, finishing second in both the pre-final and final race behind Japanese Koki Hoshino who pulled a sweep in the Formula 125 Open Senior class.
The other Filipino title hopefuls in the event are Christian Gaddi and Marino Sato who are tied with 108 points in the Mini-ROK, Archim Lorenz Lagman in the Yamaha Cup Junior and Indy Villalon in the Yamaha Cup Senior.
Turalba’s teammates Roby Benito and Joey Orduna faces tough luck for the Junior Asian plum against Malaysian Mohammad Sharif Raharjo who leads the Formula 125 Open Junior division with 120 points.
Benito, who bagged the runner-up finish in Macau, is second overall with 75 points, just a hairline lead over another Malaysian Rahul Raj Mayer who had 74 while Orduna is fourth overall with 68.
Behind them are Franco Reyes (55 pts.), Matthew Solomon (48 pts.), and Christian Villenueve who now holds 38 pts. following his fourth place finish in Macau.
Favored in the other classes are Indonesian Denzel Sofyan who’ll be facing lone RP winner Jette Calderon in the ROK Junior division, John Zhang of Singapore who’ll be tangling against RP’s RG Romero in the ROK Senior, Indonesians Ryan Anthony Monoarfa and Victor Wijaya Susilo in the Rotax Max Senior, Andhika Sasabone in the Rotax Max Junior, and Malaysian Gary Mumford in the Rotax Max Veteran.