THE FIRST leg of Toyota Motor Philippines’ (TMP) Vios Racing Festival was successfully held last weekend at the Clark International Speedway in Pampanga.
Happened on June 8, the motoring festival gathered celebrities, racing teams, car club members, Toyota owners and motoring media in a day of exciting pedal-to-the-metal action.
Race proceedings were divided into two formats, namely, Autocross Challenge and Circuit Championship.
The Autocross Challenge is a timed competition wherein drivers navigate through an obstacle course one at a time while the Circuit Championship is the classic format wherein all drivers are simultaneously competing against each other during laps.
Both formats made use of the One-Make Race (OMR) edition of the All-New Toyota Vios, which was modified for optimum handling and performance.
In line with its push for a more inclusive and accessible motorsports program, TMP invited Toyota owners, even those without racing experience, to participate in the Autocross Challenge, making the event all the more exciting.
Winners in the Autocross Challenge were Carlos Inigo Anton (49.99 seconds), Mickie Carbonel (52.65) and Alexis Lavapie (53.02) in the car club/Vios owners class; Vince Vandorpe (54.49), Phytos Ramirez (56.83) and Reph Bangsil (57.06) in the influencers class; and Jose Luis Altoveros of Autoindustriya (53.05), Jeff Soberon of MPTurbo (54.05) and Matt Mallari of STV (55.15) in the media class.
The Circuit Championship, meanwhile, was divided into three categories — Sporting class, Promotional Class and Celebrity Class — attracting a total of 22 racers.
Winners in race 1 of the championship circuit were Daniel Matsunaga (first), Aubrey Miless (second) and Gretchen Ho (third) in the celebrity class; Francis Adriano (Obengers/Toyota San Jose Del Monte), Julian Tang (Obengers/Toyota Otis) and Elysse Menorca (Obengers/Toyota North Edsa) in the promotional class; and John Dizon (Obengers/Toyota Marilao), Gel Napat (Team Biskeg/Toyota Dagupan) and Red Diwa (Growl Thule Racing) in the sporting class.
In race 2, winning were Troy Montero, Ms. Ho and Mr. Matsunaga (celebrity); Mr. Adriano, Julian Neri (Toyota Cebu) and Fabio Ide (TMP) (promotional); Eggy Ong (JBT Racing/Toyota San Fernando), Mr. Diwa and Lord Seno (Toyota Cebu) (sporting).
Winning in race 3 were Mr. Montero, Ms. Ho and Ms. Miles (celebrity); Mr. Tang, Elysse Menorca (Obengers/Toyota North Edsa) and Mr. Adriano (promotional); and Mr. Seno, Mr. Dizon and Mr. Napat (sporting).
The second and third legs of the Vios Racing Festival happen in August and November, respectively, also at the Clark International Speedway. — Michael Angelo S. Murillo
