SEAOIL karter Gabriel “Gabe” Tayao Cabrera bucked the odds as he romped away with a respectable first runner-up finish at the recent Asian Karting Open Championship held at the Bira International Circuit in Thailand, making him highest-placed Filipino to achieve a podium finish in the series’ top class.
The 15-year-old Makati Hope Christian School student was the youngest and only
teenager in the series’ premier KZ Shifter Class comprising veteran karters.
Hopes of a podium win initially seemed far-fetched especially since Tayao Cabrera was the only shifter driver, who came only a day before the competition and had barely one day to familiarize himself with the new track.
“Prior to a race, I did my homework by researching on the track layout and watch past races held at the venue where I will be racing. The limited time forced me to really focus on getting the race line and braking points right especially since it was only me and my mechanic Joesefilo Bariquit, who had to figure out the best set-up. It’s good training for me on how to handle pressure,” said Tayao Cabrera.
A more immediate cause for concern was the fact that he was also the only driver using a 5-speed engine compared to his older rivals, who were all using 6-speed shifter engines.
Tayao Cabrera did not disappoint his fans by proving his worth as the Philippines’ brightest karter to date. Despite driving a slower engine model, he still managed to consistently clock impressive times close to the pole sitter throughout the race.
“My engine was way slower than the rest of the grid so my strategy was to execute a flawless race line. Making less errors made it possible for me to keep my hopes for a podium win alive,” said Gabe.
The multi-titled karter is flying off again in a few days, this time to represent the country in the third leg of the X30 Challenge to be held at the KF1 Circuit in Singapore.