Gelael Rules 2nd AKOC Leg in Macau

After topping the Pre-Final race that determined grid positions in the Final, Sean Gelael took a flag-to-flag victory in the premier Formula 125 Open Senior category of the Asian Karting Open Championships (AKOC) second leg at the Kartodromo de Coloane in Macau.

From the time the red lights went out signaling the start until the checkered flag dropped, the 16-year-old Gelael took command of the 24-lap race and never looked back. The young Indonesian crossed the finish line to the cheers of a large crowd in the grandstand.

Throughout the race, Malaysia's Weiron Tan, who submitted the fastest time during qualifying, tried to chase down Gelael but the latter's smoothness and confidence proved to be too much of an advantage. Taking third was Christian Silvano of Indonesia, who settled into a comfortable pace that produced enough room between himself and the flying Edward Cheever, who started from 18th, sliced his way up the field into fourth place and set the fastest lap of the race (49.27 seconds). The spectacular Alexandra Asmasoebrata, meanwhile, bucked a bad start that dropped her from third to ninth. She fought her way back to take the final podium position, giving Indonesia four out of the top five positions.

Erstwhile AKOC series leader Richard Bradley of Singapore, retired on the seventh lap with mechanical trouble.

In 18-lap Formula 125 Open Junior final, Singaporean Andersen Martono, 13, triumphed over the 16-kart field to take his first victory in this year's series. Despite injuring his wrist in the Pre-Final, Darma M. Hutomo of Indonesia braved the pain to take second place ahead of his tenacious compatriot Yasuo Senna Iriawan. Rounding out the last two podium positions were Singapore's Christian Villeneuve and Thailand's Supanut Suwankham, who set the fastest lap of 49.909 seconds.

As expected, the Mini Rok final was marked by heated dicing and frequent position changes that had the crowd on its feet. After a tense 15-lap contest, Daim Bin Hishammudin bet pre-race favorite Maximilian Fewtrell to the checkered flag, making it a Singaporean one-two. Landing in third, fourth and fifth, respectively, were Christian Gaddi of the Philippines, Presley Martono of Indonesia and James Pull of Malaysia.

The second leg of the Asian Karting Open Championships was supported by Red and White Racing and held in cooperation with the Automobile General Association Macau-China.