It was a day filled with unexpected twists and surprise endings at the third leg of the Toyota Vios Racing Festival last weekend.
It was actor Troy Montero who won the first circuit race for the celebrity class, while actor/model Daniel Matsunaga finished second and TV Personality and former Volleyball player Gretchen Ho placed third. In the promotional class, it was Julian Tang who placed first with Julian Neri and Darrel Garbes following him in second and third respectively. In the Sporting class, it was Red Diwa who finish first with John Dizon and Eggy Ong in second and third.
What seemed to be an uneventful race two was quickly turned around at the last second after a Montero and Dizon crash just inches before the finish line. The two racers were fine and sustained no injuries in the incident.
Despite his crash, Montero was still first for the celebrity class in race two with Matsunaga in second and Montero’s partner, actress Aubrey Miles finishing third. In the Promotional class, girl power prevailed, as Elysse Menorca finished first, followed by Julian Neri in second and Francis Adriano in third.
In the sporting class, it was a tight race for first between Eggy Ong and Marc Soong, it was the former who took the top spot with a fantastic overtake maneuver at the dying laps of the race. Finishing third was Clive Fermin.
A heavy downpour made the last race much more exciting with cars struggling to get grip on the wet tarmac. Sporting class contender Marc Soong failed to complete the race as he was thrown off-track at the last corner of the first lap. Celebrity racers Gerard Anderson and Aubrey Miles also had their cars doing pirouettes at the starting straight. Celebrity racer Chie Filomeno also crashed inches before the starting line, with her car hitting the wall due to aquaplaning. The actress was fine but the crash ultimately brought out the safety car and with the rain not letting up, and stewards were forced to end the race two laps early.
It was Matsunaga who topped the final race for the celebrity class, following him was Ho and Miles in second and third place. Menorca once again topped the Promotional class for the last race with Adriano in second and Tang in third. Ong was once again the winner for the sporting class with Red Diwa following him and Clive Fermin rounding the podium for the sporting class.
Aside from the Circuit Racing, the Vios Racing Festival also had an Autocross Challenge for social media personalities, media and car clubs. Jules Aquino won the social media personality class, Jose Luis Altoveros won the media class, and Iñigo Anton winning the car club category.
The Vios Racing Festival will go back to Clark for its final leg this November 9.
For more information and updates on the Vios Racing Festival and TMP’s motorsports program, visit Toyota’s official website and follow its social media accounts at facebook.com/ToyotaMotorPhilippines, instagram.com/ToyotaMotorPhilippines and twitter.com/ToyotaMotorPH.