Changing conditions at Clark International Speedway produced a dramatic start to the fifth season of the SEAOIL Radical Challenge Philippines.
The 2026 SEAOIL Radical Challenge Philippines opened its fifth season at Clark International Speedway with changing track conditions creating an unpredictable three-race weekend.
Portuguese driver Andre Rodrigues made a perfect start to his SR3 Challenge Cup campaign by sweeping all three races, while 19-year-old newcomer JR Gan emerged as the early SR1 leader after taking two victories from three starts.
The Radical cars competed using SEAOIL Extreme-97 fuel, while FUCHS Lubricants Philippines joined the championship as Official Lubricant Partner. In qualifying, Rodrigues immediately set the pace in the #30 Rodrigues Racing SR3 with a 1:57.168 lap, while Vedant Agrawal placed second overall in the #78 VCAR Motorsport SR1. Gan followed just 0.133 seconds behind in third.
Rodrigues takes control in Race 1
A wet but drying track made the opening race difficult to predict. Agrawal grabbed the early lead, while Rodrigues, Gan, and Jaime Almario went three-wide into Turn 1 in the #25 AVI Racing SR1.
Almario then attempted to move inside Agrawal, but the pair ended up on the grass, allowing Gan to take the lead. The wet conditions narrowed the performance gap between the SR3 and SR1 machinery, although Rodrigues worked his way past Gan after the opening lap and pulled away to claim both the SR3 class and overall victory.
Gan held on to secure his first SR1 win in the #17 MRD entry, while fellow debutant Emanuel “Manu” Miranda of Cebu finished second in class.
Almario answers back in Race 2
Wet conditions continued into Race 2, where Gan started from pole. Almario quickly moved into second but spun while challenging Gan on the opening lap, giving Rodrigues an opportunity to move ahead and take control.
Almario recovered quickly and caught Gan within two laps before passing him for the SR1 lead. Rodrigues completed his second SR3 victory of the weekend, while Almario took the SR1 win ahead of Gan and Agrawal.
Gan closes the weekend with another win
The circuit finally dried for Race 3, with Almario getting the holeshot before Agrawal swept around the outside to take the overall lead.
Agrawal’s advantage was short-lived after he spun on lap two, bringing out the Safety Car and bunching the field back together. Gan attacked Almario at the restart and took the lead, but Rodrigues soon caught both SR1 cars and moved ahead to complete a clean sweep of all three SR3 races.
Gan secured his second SR1 victory of the weekend ahead of Almario, giving him the early class championship lead on his Radical debut.
The 19-year-old is already a two-time Golden Wheel Awardee for his achievements in karting and the Philippine GT and is now beginning his first full season in Radical competition.
Next stop: Batangas
The results leave Rodrigues with the early advantage in the SR3 Challenge Cup, while Gan heads the SR1 standings after the opening round.
The SEAOIL Radical Challenge Philippines moves to Batangas Racing Circuit for Round 2 on September 25–27, where defending champions Mikey Jordan and Juha Turalba are expected to make their first appearances of the season.