LaO shines in Circuit Showdown

MANILA, Philippines - Rafael La O‘ sescaped away with the victory by a mere bumper over runner-up Ferdie Sia to rule Grid A in the first annual Grip Fest which drew more than 150 racers and enthusiasts recently at the Batangas Racing Circuit.

A collaboration between Circuit Showdown and PDRF, the event was the sixth round of the series and validated Circuit Showdown’s status as “the breeding ground for the Philippines’ future champions.

Grid B saw the day’s only breakouts with Edward Pujol and Borek Fallorin getting one- and two-minute penalties. Niño Garcia took top honors while Alan Arguelles and Paul Perez checked in second and third, respectively.

Grid C was the only wet race of the day, giving all the drivers spin outs and hairy moments to spare. Adrian Lampano was leading the race and pulled away until he spun in the Brians Corner, giving second placer Ton Ton Ramos a chance to catch up and overtake him with three laps to go. Ramos eventually beat Lampano for first while Ike Palinar came in third, working up the pack from 10th place after a spin out as well.

In Bracket A, also known as the open class, the winners were Joby Tanseco, Ferdie Sia and Marc Thomann with the fastest time of the day going to Carlos Anton (1:18:835).

In Bracket B, Edward Pujol took home top honors followed by Sam Avila and Andres de Asis while Patrick Mendoza got the top of the podium in Bracket C followed by Jonnie Pineda and Rio Hallili who drove his GT 86.

First time TT competitor Marcus Timbol collared the first place trophy in Bracket D followed by Kitz Ferrer and Gian Mark Santiaguel. In Bracket E, Leo Candava captured the gold over Mark Dy and well -known drift driver Alex Perez, who decided to try out grip racing. Edwin Rodriguez emerged on top of Group F at the expense of Dax Robles and MC Agapito. 

Round 6 featured the GT 86/BRZ Club of the Philippines, to commemorate the sixth of August, which is the unofficial 86 day.  Pauland Dumlao seized top honors as Rio Halili and Victor Buensuceso finished second and third, respectively.

The seventh leg, supported by GT Radial, Staging Lanes Las Piñas, HKS Super Oil, Dixcel, Rota Wheels, Monster Energy Drink, Walter Lights n Sounds, Aguila Auto Glass, Maxspeed, Hardrace, Foil A Car, Runstop Rotors, Egghead, PhilGerma,  TopGear Philippines, Sweetspot420, Autoindustriya.com, Kotse.com, Legit Manila and Solar Sports Desk, is set Sept. 7 at BRC.

Details: Visit www.circuitshowdown.com.