Corpino conquers Palawan Rotax Series, stretched his winning run to 4-straight Rounds Championship.
Is he now the New Quadruple Champion?
After winning the first two opening rounds of the ROK GP Cup in Carmona Cavite, the 16yo karting phenom Bern Corpino routed his rivals from Time Trials to Qualifying Heats up to the Finals to emerge the Champion of the Rotax Max Philippine Challenge Series - 1st and 2nd round held at Puerto Princesa, Palawan last April 29 to 30, 2023. As the former Juniors Karting Champion of the Philippines who is now elevated to Seniors Class, Bern is now in fierce competition against his former mentor-idol 20-yr old Miguel Quiñones of DRQ Motorsports who recently received the rare Back to Back AAP Driver of the Year for Karting and is now gunning for the 3rd straight National Title which is unprecedented in the history of Philippine Karting. The win in Palawan makes Corpino an early favorite in the run-up to who will be the next Philippine Karter of the Year for 2023.
Bern Corpino, a proud high school student of San Beda College roared as loud as the San Beda Red Lions against his competitors who also belonged to other prestigious schools in Manila. Bern who is a half-Filipino and half-Indonesian has always been admired for maintaining a good body physique who is considered to have a "zero-fat body structure" for a teenager. You may guess that the extra-power he displayed during the first 4 races maybe credited to his spicy balanced meat and vegetable diet and probably because of the "Extra Joss" food supplement which happens to be a his current major sponsor. Seriously speaking, as this author has known Bern for quite a time, this racing phenom is admittedly has the staying power in every race that he joins and admiringly he possess the "Killer Instinct" inside the track no matter who the opponent will be up against him. In his Juniors campaign last year, he earned the nickname Bern "The Spark" as fans would remember that even if placed below 5th position in the time trials, he will always have that extra spark to weave in and out of the grid to capture the 1st place finish. If there is such a comparison, one might say he is a combination of steady Michael Jordan and/or of streak shooting Kobe Bryant of Basketball but regardless of what post-race analysis be made for him, Bern continues to mesmerize his fans of what stuff he is really made of.
The battle for claiming the Karter of the Year for 2023 is a long way to go and it is a known fact that any Karter relies on the proper tuning of the Racer's Kart which the tuner or the mechanic can masterfully tune the kart to fit his Driver requirements for a winning run. In the case of Bern and Miguel, both are equally matched as their karts are tuned by the same racing outfit and when all things are made equal, the battle for supremacy relies on the driving skills of the Racer and of course with added "luck" inside the racetrack since the driver is categorically on his own from start to finish and can be affected by so many aspects of the race in the actual competition.
Credit also can be given to the reigning Seniors Karter of the Year Miguel Quiñones for his runner-up finishes, for staying just near there within striking distance to reclaim his glory in the next rounds to come. Miguel who has more international race experience over Bern and is a master of having that "second-wind" runs for the half of the year-long series of which he is expected to bounce back big-time, as scouting reports allegedly predict that Miguel will be unveiling his newfound will, strength, race strategy including coaching adjustments that may happen soon as the series shift to Pampanga (Clark International Speedway) in July, 2023 for the resumption of the Philippine Karting Series.