11-year-old karter Lucas Antoine Aldave was one of the standouts at the 21st Golden Wheel Awards. An annual culmination ceremony for the past motorsports season, the young talent went home with his hands full that evening-receiving no less than 5 trophies for his achievements in 2023.
The highlight was securing the MiniRok Novice Class championship in the 2023 Petron Motorsports Super Karting Series. Lucas enjoyed a strong start to the season by winning the opening round at the Carmona Race Track, followed by 2nd at the Palawan International Circuit and another win at the Clark International Speedway Kart Track. However, he suffered a major blow in the points race after suffering a DNS in Round 4 that put him 40 points behind his closest rival Dayton Pastor. But the Mercedes Young Driver Development Philippines (YDDP) karter made up for the points deficit by scoring a hat trick winning the final 3 rounds in the season to win the Novice Class title by 27 points.
Aside from his MiniRok Novice trophy, Lucas was also recognized as the 2023 Formula Cadet Expert Champion which in turn earned him the 2023 Cadet Karter of the Year award. Then he received the 2023 Asian Karter of the Year trophy in the Cadet Expert Class for his performance in the Asian Karting Open Championship (AKOC). Lastly, the night ended with Lucas being presented with the prestigious 2023 Jose Ochoa Memorial Award.
The plethora of awards came as no surprise as the young karter shined throughout 2023. And with a fresh new season ahead, Lucas will be hoping to pick up from the successes last year and carve out an even greater campaign in 2024 in MiniRok Expert as well as participation in other regional events that’s still in the works.
Lucas Aldave: “I would like to thank the Golden Wheel Award Foundation for this award and for recognizing all the hard work that the teams and drivers put in during the season to compete and perform at their very best. I’m looking forward to enter MiniRok Expert this year and compete with some of the best karters as I aim to become the MiniRok Karter of the Year.”
Lucas Aldave is supported by Axel Motorsports Group, Mercedes Young Driver Development Philippines, Villa Soledad Beach Resort, Gemini Phils. Graphic Arts, PeekUp, Mayor Joy Belmonte, Vice Mayor Gian Sotto, and City Council of Quezon City, Alpinestars, AVA Law, and Century Pacific Food Inc
[Photos by Bong Boado]
