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YOUNG
sensation Jean Stefano Marcelo gave the
Philippines its place in the world karting map as he
emerged as one of the world’s best drivers in the recent
2007 ROK World Cup at the South Garda Karting Track in
Lonato, Italy.
 Marcelo,
14, finished 10th among 96 aspirants in the ROK Seniors
class to become the first Filipino and Southeast Asian
to make it to the Magic 10 of the prestigious event.
That he pulled off despite a bent chassis incurred from
an earlier collision that forced him to take the risk of
a last chance qualifying heat.
Marcelo
wrapped up the 20-lap race in 15 minutes and 15.747
seconds, posting a best lap time of 44.847 seconds,
which was a tad off the 44.811 seconds posted by
eventual champion Emanuele Pagani of Italy.
“I gave
it my best and we’re quite proud to prove that Filipinos
are among the best karters in the world,” said Marcelo.
“And we could have achieved a better finish if not for
the incident in the second heat.”
The 96
participants were broken down to four elimination
groups. Marcelo qualified 14th out of 32 karters in his
group and was slowly adapting to the high-grip track as
he moved up to seventh position in the short 10-lap
first heat.
In the
second heat, Marcelo moved to ninth from 14th place and
was on the verge of overtaking drivers ahead of him when
he was bumped from behind on the last turn with two laps
to go and ended 16th in the 32-man grid.
That
forced him to take the repercharge or the last chance
qualifying race where only the top six could advance to
the semifinals.
Marcelo,
however, did not only qualify for the next round but
even ruled the race to the amazement of the crowd that
included seven-time Formula One champion Michael
Schumacher. They were all impressed as he pulled a big
dive on the inside of the tight hairpin in the fourth
lap to wrest the lead and rule the race with a
4.2-second lead.
But the
struggle turned tougher as Marcelo had to start 29th in
the 34-man semifinals. He spun out while trying to
avert a collision with the karter ahead of him and hit a
barrier that bent his chassis.
Despite
the incident, he managed to get back in the race and
secured 18th place in the prefinal race.
The
Marcelo Racing crew tried to salvage what was left with
the kart as Marcelo worked his way to 10th place. He
slipped back to 12th as the bent chassis slowed him down
and found himself struggling to get past Russian
Nicholas Toner and Adamek Frantiser of
Czechoslovakia.
But his
patience paid off as he dove both drivers with five laps
to go and almost caught up with the ninth placer just
before he reached the finish line. |
