Riveras end season with slalom crowns

MANILA, Philippines - Fern-C Racing left another big mark in the racing season behind the impressive title-clinching feats of Noel Rivera, Milo Rivera and Estefano Rivera in the championship round of the 2011 Race Motorsports National Slalom Series at the SM South Mall parking grounds.

Noel Rivera, a former two-time slalom champion, regained his throne as he captured his third overall crown for Fern-C Racing powered by Gulfspeed, Bosch Power Tools, G-Motors, Karcraft, Monte Carlo Motors and Rey Electrical.

Milo Rivera again emerged the day’s overall champion as he likewise bagged the overall runner-up slalom crown while Estefano Rivera showed big promise as the next slalom superstar when he emerged the Best Newbie this season.

Fern-C Racing dominated eight out of the 12 rounds with Noel winning four races while Milo consecutively ruled the last six legs of the series with technical support from team race tuner Fil Gulfin.

It was a close title fight between Noel Rivera, the points leader prior to this championship leg, and former champion Peewee Mendiola who was hoping to pull off a big title upset by winning the championship leg. 

Noel timed 49.72 seconds while Mendiola timed 49 seconds and was still hoping for the winning time on his final run.

But Milo Rivera blew Mendiola’s chances early. Despite the continuous downpour of rain, Milo still set the pace with his fast time of 48.68 seconds which remained unshattered at the end of the day.

Thus, Noel Rivera emerged the outright overall champion, accumulating a total of 107 points. 

Estefano Rivera, one of the young karting aces, was the biggest revelation this slalom season as he clocked an impressive 52 seconds, beating the time of other older and more experienced rivals.

“This is a milestone year for FERN-C Racing in Slalom, and with God’s blessings and the continuous support of our sponsors, we hope to come up with bigger feats next year,” said Noel Rivera.