Marcelo 10th in ROK World Cup of karting

By Inquirer

LONATO, ITALY–Young karting ace Jean Stefano Marcelo overcame a bent chassis and a start far down the final grid to finish 10th in a field of 96 in the 2007 ROK World Cup at the South Garda Karting Track over the weekend.

The 14-year-old Filipino thus became the first Southeast Asian to land in the top 10 of the ROK Senior class in the world’s toughest karting competition.

Marcelo completed the final 20-lap race in 15 minutes and 15.747 seconds, highlighting his rally with a best lap time of 44.847 seconds which threatened 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, a shoo-in for the Philippines’ Karter of the Year award.

The 96 participants were broken down into four groups in the elimination races with Marcelo ending up as the 14th qualifier from a grid of 32 karters in the first heat.

In the 32-man second heat, Marcelo was chasing the leaders in ninth place when he was bumped from behind with two laps to go and lost control. He wound up 16th.

That finish pulled him down to the repechage races where only the top six secured spots in the semifinals.

But Marcelo was up to the challenge and ruled the race by 4.2 seconds in front of a huge gallery that included the legendary Formula One champ Michael Schumacher.

Marcelo started 29th in the semifinals and, despite bending his chassis after hitting a barrier as he averted a collision, moved up to secure 18th place in the pre-final race.

The Marcelo Racing crew salvaged what was left with the kart and Stefano worked his way up to 10th, passing Nicholas Toner of Russia and Adamek Frantiser of the Czech Republic in the final lap.

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