Iñigo Anton shines in first autocross showing
RACING wonder Iñigo Anton made a good start in defending his Philippine Autocross Championship by ruling the first round in Navotas recently in his Advan-Mark Young Honda Civic EF hatchback.
The 15-year-old beat 150 entrants, whose pool of talent included the finest and the toughest, to set the best times in both the Overall Championship (46.23 seconds) and the Open Championship (44.53 seconds) in just two runs.
Anton’s teammate Karol Collantes checked in at second overall in the Open Championship with a time of 48.42 seconds, while Gen Colina set a time of 48.51 seconds to end at third place.
“There were over 150 entries so it took a long time for us to line up and wait for our turn to run.” Iñigo said.
“I knew I had to make a good clean run since I may not be able to run again because of the number of participants during this round,” he added.
But Anton worried needlessly. He was after all the youngest ever Philippine Autocross Champion and Open Autocross Champion last year in the sport’s 20-year history.
The prodigy thanked his Mark Young Racing Team, Advan Tires and mechanics for giving him the machine to win the leg.
“We got lucky that his first two runs were clean and fast enough for the overall wins. I think that’s what separates Iñigo from the rest, he really concentrates and performs at his best under a lot of pressure,” multi-time champion Carlos Anton said proudly of his son.
The older Anton opted to skip the tilt due to the large field of contenders.
For the top five overall classification, Anton was first, Colina finished second and Ryan Ablang third.
Anton, a Baguio Achiever’s honor stustudent, currently leads the premiere Legends Division in the Second Race of Champions organized by MP Turbo after winning the first three rounds.
Aside from the Philippine Autocross Champion and Open Autocross Champion, he also took all four rounds of the inaugural Toyota Car Club Challenge in the Toyota Vios Autocross Festival championship last year.
With his three racing championships last year, the young Anton’s total tally of National titles is fast increasing.
So far, he has two karting titles, three slalom, one Race of Champions Future Division title and the Novice Autocross Championship he won in 2018.
Outside of the racetrack, the 10th grader continues to be first honor in his academics, and garnered a score of 99+ in the 2019 National Career Assessment Examination.
Anton is sponsored by Yokohama, Advan, Mark Young Racing, Cars Unlimited, MP Turbo, JSD Autosport, Kilton, Special Stage, Kart Plaza, Parts Pro, Carporn and Sludgenizer.