After living in her older brother’s shadow for most of her karting career, it was Kali Carcel’s time to shine as she captured the championship in the KT100 Novice category of the 3rd leg of the Kartzone Superkart Series last Saturday at the Kartzone track in brgy. Panagdait.
Kali, a pretty face in the male-dominated sport, proved that she was more than just beauty as she showcased her quickly-developing racing skills to take control of pole position in the third heat, a lead that she never relinquished until the final heat.
She defeated Vince Rojo and Jed Binoya as she finished with an overall time of 11 minutes and 3.820 seconds.
The sun was initially out as the qualifying round got underway. Carcel finished in second place with a time of 30.3 seconds, a feat that she replicated for the first heat. However, the second heat was met with torrid rain and the event was delayed for two hours. When the race resumed, Carcel took advantage of the wet racing conditions and claimed the lead from Rojo in the third heat.
The final heat offered more of the same dominance from Carcel as she withstood hard challenges from her opponents and even finished with the fastest lap time of 36.193 seconds.
Kali’s older brother, Juan Antonio “Tonyo” Carcel, finished in third place in the KT100 Expert division behind Joseph Rojo and Jette Calderon after spinning out in the first lap of the final heat.
It took him a while but he eventually was able to catch up and finish in third place.
The race was a tougher one for the participants as they raced counterclockwise and had to deal with a chicane.