By MARK REY MONTEJO
Racing for his final year in the adrenaline-fueled karting, Filipino racer Delwin Co Jr. expressed that he is much hungrier than ever as he aims for a fitting farewell in the 2024 Petron Blaze 100 Rotax Max Challenge Philippines Series next month.
The 17-year-old Co, who recently graduated from senior high school, hopes to leave a lasting impression in the third and fourth rounds of the tournament on June 29 to 30 at Carmona Race Track in Cavite before making the transition to Car racing or Formula 1 driving.
As he steps away from carting, Co said winning a championship would be a fitting farewell to the sport that he has been doing for more than two years.
“Lately nagiistart na ng training for the next race, thinking of it medyo malayo pa ang race pero ako personally, I wanna prepare na early para when it comes sa race wala ng problems or anything, ready na,” Co said to Manila Bulletin Sports.
“And ‘yong team is going good naman, they are preparing with me naman, getting all the go karts, engines, and setups ready for the next race,” he added. “Ang goal ngayon is to get the 2024 championship para sa akin kaya all or nothing na for me.”
“May mga ideas na ako for the next few years, since last year kona sa karting balak ko to climb up nako or transition to cars or formula,” said Co.
Co is competing for the VS Racing Motorsports alongside siblings Potenciano and Denise Maxine Andaman, Paco Sarmiento and David Vaughn Datuin under the tutelage of head coach VJ Suba.
“As per leadership naman, especially sa teammates, we talk to each other basta we race hard,” Co continued.
Co currently listed 65 and 59 points in the Rotax Max senior expert and overall, respectively.
But Co has a lot of time to catch up and make a run for the title as the competition will not end until October this year.
Meanwhile, in ROK GP senior overall, Co sits on second spot with 132 grand total points just behind his teammate Potenciano (178) at the top of the standings while Quinones (120) sits at third. Co and VS Racing still have until August 25 to boost their points.
“Ngayon mas gutom ako for the win this time, especially next round gusto ko talaga kunin ang win and I’m building up the confidence for it,” said Co who also took time to give a message for aspiring karters who want to try the sport.
