Filipino karters go up against their formidable foreign rivals as the 2009 Asian Karting Open Championship stages its Final Round this Sunday at the S.C. Motorsport Circuit in Saraburi, Thailand.

Juha Turalba remains the only hope for the major award as Ready2Race teammate Joey Orduna stands to lose his Asian Junior crown in the event organized by Grand Prix International Co., Ltd. (GPI Motorsport) and Kart Association of Thailand (KAT), and powered by Red White Racing of Indonesia under Managing Director Stanley Iriawan.

Following his disappointing stint in Macau, Orduna slipped to fourth place with 68 points in the Formula 125 Open Junior where Indonesian Mohammad Sharif Raharjo is way ahead with 120 points.

Even Roby Benito may have tough luck for the said award although he’s second overall with 75 points, just a point ahead of Malaysian Rahul Raj Mayer who’s in third with 74.

Foreign karters dominate the other classes of this event sanctioned by the CIK/FIA and RAAT.

John Zhang of Singapore is way ahead against over Filipino RG Romero and Macau’s Paulo Batalha in the ROK Senior; Indonesians Ryan Anthony Monoarfa and Victor Wijaya Susilo will be disputing the Rotax Max Senior crown while Malaysian Gary Mumford hopes to capture the Rotax Max Veteran title over Hongkong’s Tommy Tang Chi Ming who’s just five points behind.

In the Junior division, Indonesian Denzel Sofyan leads the ROK Junior division with 95 points or five points ahead of Singaporean Anderson Martomo; while Indonesian Andhika Sasabone hopes to wrap up the Rotax Max Junior crown with 94 points up against Macau’s Andy Chang Wing Chung and Yasuo Iriawan of Red and White Racing in the Rotax Max Junior.

Among the top foreign karters to watch are Christian Villanueve who finished fourth in Macau, Perdana Putra Minang of Red and White Racing, and brothers Perry and Presley Martomo.