20-year-old Iñigo Anton already has a long list of motorsport achievements despite his young age, but he’s showing no signs of slowing down. Just a month after winning the opening round of the TGR Philippine Cup, he found himself back on the race track – this time at the Sepang International Circuit in Malaysia.
The Filipino driver had a busy schedule as he had to serve double duty with Axel Sports, which is managed by ex-Formula 1 driver Alex Yoong.
First on his to-do list was a 1-day test in a Formula Renault. Although he scored 2 point-scoring finishes in Formula 4 SEA on this very circuit, Iñigo needed a refresh as it’s been almost a year since he last drove a proper single-seater. He used the time to get re-acquainted with the 5.543 km track as well as the speed difference of the machinery. All this was done in preparation for his debut in the highly-competitive Formula 4 Australian Championship scheduled next month with BlackArts Racing.
“I was able to put in quick laps and adjust to the speed difference that you experience in a formula car. This experience will surely help me perform at my best during the F4 weekend next month,” he reflected.
This was followed immediately with a race stint in the Malaysia Championship Series (MCS) that weekend. He would share the #123 Axle Sports Suzuki Swift with Singaporean driver Stewart Hine where they went on to deliver a strong performance and narrowly missed out on a podium finish.
However, things got off on the wrong foot for Axle Sports.
“I qualified 2nd in SP2V class, but was relegated to the back when we overlooked a rule that required me to carry more weight. Back of the grid here means 20 places back. That’s how big the grid is here in MCS,” Iñigo explained.
Starting from the back of a 57-car grid may sound like a lost cause, but Iñigo and Stewart never lost hope. The pair gradually made their way up the standings over the course of the 1-hour race with Stewart getting them as high as P11 in the SP2V class before handing the car over to Iñigo. A perfectly-timed pitstop would then allow the young Filipino driver to rejoin without losing position and continued their push to the front. On the very last lap, Iñigo made his move for P3 spot and crossed the finish line side-by-side with the #289 Rworks Riyoz Racing Swift. While it was unfortunate that they lost out on a podium by a mere 0.230 secs, it was still quite an an achievement to take 4th place after starting from dead last.
Commenting on his son’s performance at Sepang, Carlos Anton said: “Iñigo has learned so much racing touring cars in Malaysia because of the huge number of competitors in each class. The whole grid was over 50 cars for 3 different classes. It has made him a quicker and more calculating driver racing against the region’s best touring car drivers.”
Iñigo Anton is sponsored by Motul, Yokohama Philippines, Mark Young Racing, Alpinestars, JSD Autosport, MP Turbo, Obengers Racing, BLU Coffee, and Time Master Watches.
For more info and the latest updates, Follow the Iñigo Navarrete Anton page on Facebook.
