A day at the F3 races

The Batangas Racing Circuit never looked this good – and busy. Both paddock and spectator parking lots were full; race fans packed the grandstand fronting the starting grid; media people and personalities, government officials, race VIPs and scantily-clad ladies milled around the sponsors’ suites; more race fans gathered in the rooftop viewing area; and the pit garages were filled with race mechanics, technicians, drivers and all varieties of hangers-on – still more scantily-clad ladies included.

Around the circuit grounds were food stalls, and hawkers sold souvenirs in the parking lot. The freshly resurfaced racetrack itself had a festive flavor about it. Sponsor banners and billboards dot the track. Red, white and blue tire barriers line the circuit – which incidentally, has been lengthened with a series of challenging turns both of the sweeping and hairpin variety, bringing the total distance to 3.4 kilometers. Visibly proud and beaming as he welcomed guests, the builder of this field of dreams, BRC president Johnny Tan said, "All these changes were the product of hard work."

But surely, the impressive turnout at the circuit last Sunday had a lot to do with the event scheduled for that day. It was the season-opening race of the region-wide 2002 Asian Formula Challenge, after all, and the Formula 3 championship was its main race attraction.

Currently, Formula 3 holds the distinction of being the highest form of motorsports available in the country. After F3, the only higher race series is Formula 1.

Sharing the limelight with the F3 races was the Formula Renault series, which is an international event as well. The Formula Toyota races, meanwhile, completed the open-wheel race spectacle.

A number of Asia’s top drivers saw action that day, most notable of whom were Filipinos like Jojo Silverio of Tom’s Zed, Pepon Marave of Shell Racing Team, Richard Joson of JF3 Racing, and JP Tuason of TRP Team Oxygen. Providing stiff competition were foreign drivers like Mark Goddard of Castrol Team Goddard (who, by the way, is no stranger to the country anymore), Macau F2000 champion Philippe Descombes of FRD Motorsports, Paul Chan of Vertex Motorsports, and Dong Wook Lee of E-Rain, among a host of others.

Meanwhile, contesting the Formula Renault title were Kenny Chun, Benjamin Wu, and Kenneth Ma of Hong Kong; Jeffrey Lee of Taiwan; Richard Brown of Canada; Francis Tija of the Netherlands; Franky Cheng of China; and Filipino Enzo Pastor, who at age 20, is the youngest racer on the grid.

The F3 Race 1 had Silverio in the top podium spot, with Cheng in second place and Joson in third. The Formula Renault Race 1 had Cheng, Enzo Pastor and Chun in the top three spots.

At the end of the day, Race 2 of the F3 series was again dominated by Silverio, followed by Chan and Joson. Race 2 of Formula Renault had Cheng, Pastor and Chung as top three finishers.

The next two race days will be held at the Zhuhai International Circuit in China.

Next week: How The STAR’s motoring ed became a formula driver for a day.