How do you train up your child to be a good and responsible car driver? For most parents, they wait until their child turns 16 and has a student driver’s license before letting the teenager handle a real car without first exposing him/her to the fundamentals of driving and taking care of a car.

In most cases in this video age, it’s the children who take the initiative to learn how to drive through video games.  But the problem with such electronic and digital simulations is that it doesn’t really teach the child responsibility while driving as he/she can bump roadsides and other cars and even crash and still not be affected. Moreover, such video games can be addictive and can veer the child away from schoolwork.

And bump cars are just a start.  You’ve got to take your child to a higher level and ideally with something realistic, unlike video games.

Raising kids to love motorsports is the passion of Ready2Race Gear, Inc. (R2R).  R2R trains children and young adults in motorsports by exposing them to the grassroots of motorsports: karting.  Along the way, their cadets learn to be responsible and adept motor drivers and with the discipline they learn at the tracks R2R students excel not only at the tracks but also in school.

Established in 2005 as a high-quality yet budget-friendly racing suit manufacturer, R2R took a turn for the better when it took over the kart racing team of the Tuason Racing School.  Now R2R’s ultimate goal is to produce the first Filipino Formula 1 (F1) racer.

R2R holds karting clinics and continually recruits talented and aspiring drivers for its racing team. R2R drivers, who primarily were initially cadets, have grown to dominate the junior and senior categories of local and international races.

The R2R Kart Racing Team participates in the national karting series, which is the Magnolia Pure Water Super Karting Series, and competes internationally in the Asian Karting Open Championship (AKOC), which is the most challenging karting series in Asia, and in the ROK World Finals in Lonato, Italy.

The R2R Racing Team is currently the biggest in the local karting scene.  Its members are champions of other sports as well, like swimming, triathlon, and tennis; some are gifted in music and visual arts; and all are academically excellent students of top schools.  The R2R Team is also international in omposition, having a 16-year-old Korean, Sung Joon a.k.a. Daniel Park.

Jose Antonio Turalba, nicknamed Juha, 15, Grade 10 at the International School Manila, bagged the top honors when he won the Kartodromo De Coloane Circuit and came home as the 2008 ROK 125 AKOC Champion.  In 2009, he missed the AKOC top honors by just a second and came home from Macau with a hard-fought 1st Runner-up 2009 AKOC 125 Open prize.  Juha led most of the 2009 AKOC race until the 22nd lap. When Thailand’s top racer Tin Sritrai gained the lead, Juha tried to recover on the last lap but was unable to pass Sritrai.

“Juha and I cherish all the triumphs and share in the disappointments.  This has given me the opportunity to be involved in something we both enjoy doing,” says Toti Turalba, Juha’s father and also his coach, mechanic, and inspiration at the track.  “Karting has given me the venue to really enjoy being a father and having a son.  It has given me countless proud moments.” Juha is also a visual artist and an avid scuba diver. His karting achievements and other interests are showcased in his website www.juhaturalba.com.

Currently a 10-member team of boys and girls aged 10 to 16, the Ready2Race Team is managed by Chito Benito, father of Rafael “Roby” P. Benito, 14, champion of the 2009 PAGCOR KF2-KF3 Series, 1st Runner-up in the ROK Jr. Class 2007 and 2008 Shell Karting Series, 2nd Runner-up in the ROK Jr. Class 2008 AKOC, back-to-back Champion in the Expert Class of the 2006 and 2007 Arthur Tuason Memorial Cup, and consistent A-student of De La Salle Zobel.  Roby is also a serious piano player.
Other champion members of the R2R Team are Brian del Val, 16, graduate of the San Beda College high school, Champion, Yamaha Jr. 2nd Leg 2008 AKOC and 1st Runner-up in the Formula SL Novice Class 2008 Shell Super Karting Series; Joseph “Joey” Orduna, 13, Grade 8 at the International School Manila, MiniROK Champion in 2007 and the 2008 ROK Jr. Novice Champion in the Shell Super Karting Series, and 15th placer out of 28 drivers and top Asian finisher in the World ROK Cup Finals in Lonato, Italy.

For more information on Ready2 Race, its products, services, and karting clinics, you may contact R2R manager Chito Benito at 0917-8409598 or 0922-8409598 or Mariel Wong at 0922-8910278 or log on to www.readytoracegear.com.  You may also email them at info@ready2racegear.com.