Despite being the youngest competitors and newest to e-racing, Philippine team members Iñigo Anton and Axel Nocom clinched the silver medal for the country in the team championship event of the prestigious Southeast Asian Sports Championship.
Real-life racers Anton and Nocom finished third and ninth, respectively, in the team championship after they went head-to-head with the region’s top e-racers and sim racers. The combined finish was enough to edge out elite sim racers Fadhli Rachmat and Andika Rama Maulana of Indonesia.
The region’s top sim racers, siblings Naquib and Nabil Azlan, of Malaysia took the top spot after finishing first and second.
Out of the $10,000 prize pool in the SEA-EC, Team Philippines won a total of $1,800 in the tournament that is a precursor to the 31st Southeast Asian Games set in Hanoi, Vietnam in 2022.
Anton, meanwhile, is currently preparing for an even bigger race – this time in the global stage.
He is part of team Axle Sports, which is the only SEA team that is competing in the premier Endurance Sports Championship in the world – the Le Mans Virtual Series.
The Baguio boy is the lone Filipino racer in this international race and he admitted he is quite starstruck with the driver line-up of the 24 hours of Le Mans Virtual, where he will race with the likes of Formula 1 world champion Max Verstappen, former F1 driver Juan Pablo Montoya, and IndyCar Champion Alex Palou.
The 50-car gird will be filled with pro Formula 1, GT, IndyCar and Touring car stars, racing alongside the best sim drivers in the world.
“Our team leader, Alex Yoong, our race engineer, and our whole team have been preparing hard for the 24 hours of Le Mans Virtual and we are super excited to be racing with the world champions of both real life and sim racing. We hope to finish in the top 10 and we will do our best to represent the region,” Anton said.
The finale will be held on Jan. 15 to 16 with 50 percent of the entire $250,000 prize fund available for the 24-hour standalone race. – Harley F. Palangchao
April 26, 2024
