Jannery Millet drag race king of the year

MANILA, Philippines — Jannery Millet left Ryan Quimpo eating his dust in a frenetic final faceoff and clinched the Drag Racer of the Year title with victory in the Pro class at the close of the 2018 National Drag Racing Championships series at Clark International Speedway in Pampanga recently.

Millet, the 23-year-old speed phenom from Camiling, Tarlac, pushed his gray Honda Civic EK hatchback well beyond the brim of its 250-hp powerplant to triumph by almost four car lengths and rule the season’s top-driver derby with an overall tally of 51 points, 8 clear of Quimpo.

Already the champion of the Expert and Sportsman classes in previous seasons, Millet also wrapped up the year’s Northern Series crown, with Quimpo again settling for second in another Honda Civic and Neil Malko Macatangay, the erstwhile National Series leader, third.

“My victory took time to sink in. I just couldn’t believe that I won it all in the final leg,” said Millet, who dialled in a time of 12.1 seconds over the quarter-mile straight.

Millet’s victory put to the shade the extended reign in the Quick 8 class of the multititled Jonathan Tiu, who topped the National Series with a 76-point tally, 19 up on Southern Series champion Allan Ararao and 33 clear of Alvin Abrigo, who bested Jose Luis Yulo and third placer Tiu in the closing leg.

Tiu, driving a brute 1,318-hp Nissan GTR, also bagged the Northern Series title over runner-up Abrigo and Danes Sarmiento in the elite eight-car class of the races sponsored by Aguila Auto Glass, Sparco, M&H race tire.

The other National Series division winners are Ararao (Super Pro), Jefferson Cruz (Expert) and Roniel Pasahol (Hotstreet). The Northern Series champions include Vannie Garcia (Super Pro), Cruz (Expert), John Paul Hernandez (Sportsman) and Gabriel Lampa (Hotstreet).

Jonathan Young pipped Garcia for Super Pro’s final-leg title, with Jonathan Dela Cruz winning the Expert class over Antonio Lombardo and Kelly Esteban besting Richard Mok in the Hotstreet final.