PH karting prodigy William John Riley Go eager to bring more honor to country

Cebuano karting prodigy William John Riley Go. (DALE ISRAEL / INQUIRER VISAYAS)

CEBU CITY – Fourteen-year-old Cebuano karting prodigy William John Riley Go will head to Europe again to train and compete in various racing competitions after becoming the first Filipino to achieve three successful podiums in 2022 in three different races there.

Go earned a silver medal at the 2022 FIA Karting Academy in Genk, Belgium; bronze at the WSK Euro Series in Lombardia, Italy; and the world title at the Super ROK in Lonato, Italy at the end of October 2022.

But before becoming a world champion, Go admitted to being a victim of bullying when he started in local and international competitions with other players ganging up on him.

“There are six or seven drivers in one team, and the goal is to at least try to put me in a bad place so that I can crash in the race. So in one year I had to change my kart four or five times because of the number of accidents that I and the people- he took me on purpose. Even the kids will say we will hit you. At one point I will ask my father, is God real?” Go remember.

However, bullying did not stop him from pursuing his passion.

“I want to prove them wrong. They have done so many bad things to me, so the only way to kill them is to just win the things they couldn’t do. And finally, I’m here, I’m still racing and winning in Europe, while some I haven’t heard of in years,” said Go.

In the Super ROK where he became the World Champion, Go completed the 20-lap competition with a time of 16 minutes and 12.687 seconds, beating 36 drivers from more than 10 countries. He was also awarded pole position and fastest lap in the Super ROK category.

Next week, Go will return to Europe to train again and defend his title. They will also compete in the same race and other new races including WSK Series, FIA European Championship, ROK Cup, RGMMC Champions of the Future and others.

He started racing when he was just six years old and Go says his ultimate goal is to race in Formula One.

“I just didn’t do it for myself. I did it for my country, the Philippines. And I also did it for my team,” he said. “Every time I want to win, I don’t just think about myself. Always, I want to put the country on top to give more support, steps to the world championship.

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