Kartzone Cebu Racing Team celebrates recent wins, eyes bigger races in 2024

The KartZone Cebu Racing Team members posing for a group photo with their trophies at their home race track in Mabolo, Cebu City. | CDN Digital photo / Glendale Rosal

CEBU CITY, Philippines — There’s a new racing team in Cebu that will surely give everyone a run for their money.  They’re no other than the KartZone Cebu Racing Team that recently made waves in the national karting scene. 

Amazingly, this team isn’t composed of veteran and hard-nosed drivers, but a bunch of talented kids as young as six years old.

Thanks to the mentoring and close supervision of their manager and coaches comprised of three of Cebu’s finest karters in Juan Antonio “Tonyo” Carcel, Jesse Garcia, and William John Riley Go, these kids didn’t take long to develop their potential into talents.

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In fact, members of the Kartzone Cebu Racing Team already won two first places and earned nine podium finishes in the Petron Blaze 100 Rotax Max Challenge last March 9 to 10, at the Carmona Racing track in Cavite despite being a neophyte team that was formed in the middle of 2023. 

“I’m so proud of these kids because they’re already winning even though they just started into karting,” said Carcel who once carried the Philippine flag in international karting races.

“We started last year during the Kartzone Academy. We started racing last August here in Kartzone and eventually joined in Clark last December. After that, we continued racing in different events,” he added.

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Their winningest karter for the Kartzone Cebu Racing Team was Ashton Binghay who topped the T4 intermediate overall and T4 intermediate senior categories. 

The rest of the Kartzone Racing Team that earned a podium finish were Altheo Remedio (4th place T4 intermediate senior and intermediate overall), Jiggy Javier (5th place T4 intermediate senior and T4 intermediate overall), Gian Pimentel (5th place T4 intermediate junior), Jayden Javier (2nd place T4 Cadet Novice), Percy Yongco (4th place Cadet Novice), Izak Zambo (5th place T4 Cadet Novice), and their youngest rider, six-year-old Axel Ruiz (3rd place T4 Bambino). 

The rest of  KartZone Cebu Racing Team’s drivers are Trooper Ngo (T4 Intermediate Senior) and Aeden Binghay (T4 Intermediate Junior). 

“Our ultimate goal is to carry our legacy in Cebu because I was once a kid like them who was also taught by karters. So, it’s about paying forward and sharing the knowledge to these kids,” Carcel said. 

After Carmona, the team is heading to Palawan for the first and second rounds of the 2024 Petron Blaze 100 ROK GP Super Karting Series from April 27 to 28. It will be followed by July 27 to 28’s rounds 3 and 4 of the 2024 Petron Blaze 100 Rotax Max Challenge Philippine Series in Clark International Speedway.

The Kartzone Cebu Racing Team will return to Clark for August 24 to 25’s rounds 3 and 4 of the Petron Blaze 100 ROK GP Super Karting Series and September 14 to 15 for rounds 5 and 6 at Carmona Race Track. 

The team’s last race for the year is slated on October 5 and 6 for rounds 5 and 6 of the Petron Blase 100 ROK GP Super Karting Series.