Cebuano karting prodigy William John Riley Go finally achieved his goal of winning a title in European soil after topping the South Garda Karting ROK Super Final in Lonato, Italy over the weekend.
Racing for Zanchini Motorsport, Go finished the 20-lap race in 16:12.687, an impressive full five seconds ahead of Alexandre Machado (16:17.806), and almost 10 seconds ahead of third placer Daniele Federici (16:21.940) according to the results online.
“Ever since I started racing locally…being able to compete in Europe, the home of the best of the best in Karting was always in the bucket list. When I was finally given the opportunity to do so, I knew becoming victorious in the content was extremely challenging, ” Go said in his Facebook page.
Go, who dominated the PH circuit and made his mark in the Asean and Asian scene before taking his driving talents to Europe, struggled at the start of the season according to his father as he wasn’t use to a grid that had almost thrice as many drivers. However, he slowly started to establish himself with a couple of podium finishes.
Then came the historic weekend for the Cebuano in Lonato, Italy, where he got the pole position and registered the fastest lap in his breakaway win.
He logged 47.898 in the qualifiers, barely ahead of Iannielo Riccardo (47.933) and Tarillion Maximilian (48.09).
“During the different heats, I had mixed feelings for each one since my position was constantly changing due to certain racing incidents. However, as the final race began, I tried to give it my all. Trying to overtake the other racers was tricky due to their superb skills and experience. But with enough patience and determination, I made a move and pulled away on the 16th lap of the race,” Go said.
According to the results posted on the event’s website, Go was running second, 200 hundredths of a second behind Riccardo at the start of the 16th lap but was almost half a second ahead at the start of the next lap.
“I kept my focus and managed to cross the finish line as champion,” he said.