Bianca Bustamante sweeps Petron X30 races

MANILA, Philippines — Girl phenom Bianca Bustamante trumpeted her debut in karting’s senior echelons by sweeping the season’s first two races in the 2019 Petron Blaze 100 X30 Challenge Philippines at Clark International Speedway kart track over the weekend.

The 15-year-old reigning Asian Karting Open junior champion, timed 12 minutes and 21.796 seconds in a 15-lap spin around the 1.2-kilometer track to top Race 1 of the X30 Senior class on Saturday and then turned in an even quicker 12:07.559 in Race 2 to show up Arvin Drueco, Don Batino and Jericke Holganza in that order in both contests.

With Miguel Angeles and Jolo Suba, two junior class restricted entries, pressing her most of the way, Bustamante also ruled the two races’ pre-finals as she seized maximum points in the six-race, three-leg competition sponsored by Petron Corp.

Angeles clocked 12:22.247 to actually finish second to Bustamante in the combined race and ahead of Suba in Race 1 before the two runners-up exchanged places in Race 2 on Suba’s faster 12:10.981.

But Angeles put one over Suba by winning the second qualifying heat as well as the 13-lap finals of the Mini ROK Petron XCS race in 12:03.910, if only just 0.274 of a second clear, with Melwin Tan third and Bianca Casimiro fourth.

Drueco settled for the X30 Master titles in both races over Batino and Holganza while Rommel Herce swept the Veterans plums over Ephraim Mandal and Ricardo Quinones.

Miguel Quinones handily bagged the X30 junior titles over Niel Jigi Tupas on the strength of back-to-back fourth-place windups in the combined races won by Bustamante.

Michael Xander Perez strung up victories in the two qualifying heats and the finals over Mariano Axel Nocom, Vortex Suba and Gian Carlos Casimiro to lead the early Formula Cadet Novice class standings.