The Mini Rok class was well represented with 14 drivers attending the Asian Karting Open Championship (AKOC) Round 3 at Sentul, Indonesia on the weekend of 24th & 25th August 2007.
In the scorching heat Indonesian Willi Mursito set a blistering fast lap of 55.822 seconds to qualify on pole for the heats. Singapore based driver Liam Gout won all 3 heats with Filipino Joey Orduna finishing a close second in all 3. A close and exciting day of racing was only marred by a spectacular accident that saw Hong Kong driver Jacky Chan crash in turn 1. After being checked by the able onsite medics he was thankfully declared fit to race for the following day.
On an equally hot day Sunday’s racing was no less exciting. The pre-final, won by Joey Orduna, saw the top 6 finishers being separated by less than 2.2 seconds. Hong Kong’s Andy Chang finished second and Liam Gout dropping to third after experiencing engine problems.
In the final race Andy Chang made his intentions known early by breaking away from the pack after only one lap. Joey Orduna gave chase and managed to reel Andy in after 8 laps to setup a classic finish to the line between the two drivers. Joey won the race from Andy by 0.19 seconds with a brave drive from Jacky Chan seeing him finish third. Liam Gout and Indonesian Andhika Sasabone finished fourth and fifth respectively rounding out the top 5.
Filipino Franco Reyes, who led the AKOC Mini Rok series prior to this race, was plagued all weekend with engine trouble and put in a plucky performance to finish seventh.
Report written for KartingAsia.com by Rob Gout.
