REIGNING PHILIPPINE KARTER OF THE YEAR STEFANO MARCELO scored another milestone as he joined the Italian Maranello Factory Team recently.
The 16-year-old Marcelo became the first Filipino to be tapped by a multi-national racing team for its Factory B Team.
Aside from clinching the crowns in the local Shell Karting and the Cebu ROK Championship last year, Marcelo also bagged the overall crown of the 2007 Asian Karting Open Championship, wound up 10th in the ROK World Cup and finished 10th in the World KF1 championship in Macau.
Stefano, who’s also being backed by San Miguel Corporation and Marcelo Racing, even stunned world karting officials when he copped third in the Belgian Karting Series at the Spa-Francorchamps Circuit.
“It’s a big honor and prestige for a Filipino to be chosen as part of a world-renowned factory team,” said Marcelo. “Signing up with Maranello gave me the added confidence to pursue my dream of making it big in the international scene.”