The Rotax Max Challenge Asia (RMC) Trophy returned to the Bira Karting Circuit over the weekend where Miguel Quiñones held his own against a 25-kart Senior Max grid. And despite the chaos going on up and down the field, the Filipino karter kept it clean to come away with a hard-earned 2nd place finish.
The 4x national karting champion was immediately up to speed upon arriving at the 1.321 km track and was consistently within the Top 10 during Official Practice. However, the team’s kart setup gamble didn’t work out as planned during Qualifying and merely resulted in P12. Add to that the fact that the competition was so close that less than half a second split the Top 12 drivers on the time sheet.
Driving for DRM Racing Team, he simply kept his focus in Heat 1 with hopes of improving on his starting position. Miguel would pick up places lap-after-lap to land in P8 when the chequered flag dropped. Post-race penalties on other karters then promoted him to 6th place. Unfortunately, he didn’t get so lucky in Heat 2. Contact in the opening laps delayed Miguel and could only get up to 10th.
Now starting from P7 in the Pre-Finals, Miguel once again got crossed up in lap 1 and dropped to as far back as P12. But he was able to quickly recover and slotted into P8, trailing behind a 5-car train that was battling for a spot on the podium. The Filipino then closed the gap with only 3 laps to go and dove down the inside of Japanese karter Ryosho Nakazato to claim 7th at the finish.
While tensions ran high ahead of the all-important 18-lap Finals, Miguel simply kept his cool despite losing several places at the start. Then on lap 7, he narrowly escaped a multi-kart pileup just in front and inherited P5 in the process. By mid-race he would find himself in the middle of a 5-kart train before another pileup propelled him into a podium spot. Miguel was delighted as he crossed the finish line P3 on the road, but was later given more reasons to celebrates after a post-race penalty awarded him 2nd place.
Miguel will be back in Thailand in less than a month’s time for the penultimate round of the RMC Asia Trophy, scheduled on the 31st of August to 1st of September on the same track.
Miguel Quiñones: “Overall, finishing 2nd is good for points in the championship, especially especially here in Thailand where everyone knows the track. It’s also a very mental game and not just racing. None of it would have happened without the engine and chassis supplied by DRM and the coaching of Senna Noor from SN Racing really helped. Everything really worked together and hopefully we can do a repeat when come back here at the end of the month.”
Miguel Quiñones is sponsored by RZQ The Aesthetic Surgery Clinic, RZQ Aesthetic Medicine Institude, Derma Medica, and Coca-Cola.
