Officially official, Miguel Quiñones is now a 5x karting champion after a clean sweep of the Rotax MAX Challenge Philippines’ season ender in October. This comes straight after his Rok GP Senior Class title win just a month ago, earning him the title of Karter of the Year back-to-back.
The 2022 season has been a tight 2-kart race between Miguel and closest rival Gabriel Carag. While both have 2 wins each to their names, the Dr Q Motorsport karter’s consistency would allow him to stay slightly ahead with 2 point advantage heading into the double-header season finale at the Carmona Race Track (CRT). Still, this meant that he really had to pull something special to become champion, especially with 1.5x points up for grabs on Sunday.
Miguel did exactly just that, finishing 1st in all the sessions on Saturday with a best time in Time Trials, a win in the Qualifying Heat, and a dominant victory in the Finals finishing 5.024 secs ahead of his sister Shaniah in 2nd. Gabriel, on the other hand, did not have luck on his side and allowed Miguel to stretch his lead by 29 points.
Come the following morning, Gabriel was looking to turn the tables and give Miguel a run for his money. But his best efforts on Sunday could only land him 2nd best in Time Trials and Qualifying with Miguel again acing both sessions. Miguel then enjoyed a dominant lights-to-flag victory in the all-important Finals, cruising to victory with the championship in tow, while his rival Gabriel failing to finish.
With 4 wins in the 2022 Rotax MAX Challenge Philippines, Miguel Quiñones earns his 5th championship title in karting. This comes after securing the Rok GP Senior Class title a month ago, X30 Senior Class title in ’21, and Rok GP and X30 Junior Class titles in ’19. However, it might be a while ’til we see Miguel win karting titles again as his focus turns to cars in 2023.
He’s now busy preparing for the Rok Cup Superfinal at Lonato, Italy on the 19th/22nd of October, followed by the Rotax MAX Challenge World Finals at Portimao, Portugal on the 17th/26th of November.
Miguel Quinones: “Really happy with my clean sweep. All I needed to do was to keep my composure and make sure I don’t make any mistakes. In the end we got perfect results to claim the championship. None of it would have happened without the help of everyone who supported me, especially the magic of the Suba family.”
[Photos by Bong Boado]
