No walk in the park for veterans

The 3rd Dodo Ayuyao Sampaguita Rally has so far been the most successful as it increased its participants two-fold compared to last year’s staging. An annual project of the AAP, Automobile Association of the Philippines (formerly PMA, Philippine Motoring Association), the motor sport event aims to keep alive the memory of the late Atty. Dodo Ayuyao, to date the PMA member who served the association the longest as president and who was also the moving spirit behind the "sampaguita rally" in Philippine motor sports.

Twenty-six participating cars, this event’s biggest starting line up since its first run in 2001, were flagged off by the Mrs. Maria Lim-Ayuyao herself, Dodo’s widow together with their sons, Dennis, Dindo and Ding in the midst of a festive atmosphere at the Greenhills Petron Service Station, which saw veteran veterans like Pocholo Ramirez, Gus Lagman, Tony Mapa, Dave Arcenas and Guing Alcantara up early for a scheduled six-thirty in the morning start and mingling with the many new converts of this exciting and utterly challenging "on time all the time" type of auto rally.

The rally route, undeniably laid out by rally veteran Jun Espino, considering the tricky locations of some checkpoints, was indeed picturesque as it covered the back roads located east of the metropolis that covered rustic locales of Antipolo, Baras, Tanay all the way to Pagsanjan. The sights were actually a distraction for both driver and navigators.

To the credit of the AAP, now being lead by Tony Mapa as president, the event went very smoothly, what with no less than rally veteran Mandy Eduque, also one of the leading officers of the country’s national auto club, making sure there were no loose ends in the rally’s running.

I guess there’s also mega businessman Archie King to thank together with another motor sports veteran Boy Ochoa for the participation of the fabulous La Corona Hotel and Resort located in Pagsanjan for the sumptuous lunch and the uniquely Pinoy merienda that were generously served all the participants and organizers.

At the end of the day, the defending champion ends up defending it again for next year’s run — Tony Mapa, with Dave Arcenas time navigating and Tony’s son Nikko handling the route came out winning this year’s event.

This year’s staging had an added spice with the participation of some auto manufacturers. A minimum of three participating cars can make up a team and Toyota Motor Philippines romped off with the championship with Honda Cars Philippines coming in as runner up while General Motor Automobiles Philippines came in third.

Looking at the results there were three novice teams that got into the top 10 finishers list proving that this event can not be a "walk in the park" for the more experienced. The veteran veteran’s team of Pocholo Ramirez, driver, Gus Lagman, route navigator, and Ed Castañeda, time navigator, ended up in 7th while the Motoring Today/Auto Focus team composed of myself as driver, Jenny Bleza as route navigator and Arrin Villareal, Matt Mallari doing time navigating, came 12th in the overall category.

Of course, all day I had to answer questions on when the next Motoring Today Sampaguita Rally would be held. Well, tell you what, guys. It’s a little too late to have it this year, but would February or March be a good time? I promise to start working on it now.

Pit Lane Notes

Sometimes, Formula 1’s off-season can be just as exciting as watching the races.

Drama is unfolding at the Ferrari camp. They complained to authorities last May about their security systems being tampered with, and now it seems that they have evidence that they are victims of industrial espionage. Three former employees are currently being investigated — one of them is Mauro Iacconi. Ferrari is convinced that there are people who smuggle confidential information out the walls of the Italian Scuderia. A firm called Aerolab has been named, and it is not coincidental that it is being run by an Iacconi, the same former Ferrari engineer.

Justin Wilson’s seat in Jaguar for next season isn’t a done deal yet, and it’s no secret that Minardi top gun Paul Stoddart wants him back. He claims that the young Briton’s natural talent will definitely shine in Jaguar’s full winter test program, but it wouldn’t hurt to offer him a safety net just in case he doesn’t get re-signed. Wilson’s camp says that although their number 1 priority is still Jaguar, they would definitely consider Minardi as one of their options for 2004.

McLaren fans were disappointed last season because the MP4-18 was not released in time. Insiders however say that the MP4-19 is set to begin testing at the end of November — that will most probably give the Silver Arrows enough time to secure all its glitches in time for the coming season.

More news on McLaren, they are still shopping around for a possible test driver. The two names that seem to be heading to the final cut are Jean Alesi and Jacques Villeneuve. Although Alesi has been very vocal about not wanting to return to the world of F1 anytime soon, he is practically obliged to do it if it is offered to him because he is racing for the team in the German DTM Series. He also said that he has a great working relationship with Ron Dennis and will definitely accept the position if they choose him.

Fun Camp For The Whole Family

"It’s something that the whole family can look forward to because this will be the first ever family oriented outdoor motorshow," was the excited assurance of Mr. Froilan Dytianquin, senior manager for marketing services of Mitsubishi Motors Philippines. My good friend Froy also confidently added that, "We expect that the Mitsubishi Fun Camp will again gain interest from the public as we prepared many attractions that will surely be enjoyed not only by the adults but kids as well."

Judging by the litany of attractions that the Fort Bonifacio Global City would be filled up with this coming Saturday and Sunday (November 22 & 23) from 9 AM to 8 PM, I cannot really imagine what size crowd we can expect. But what’s the worry? This fantastic event shall be held at the open field.

To begin with, two new Mitsubishi SUVs or Sports Utility Vehicles will be officially introduced this weekend — the Outlander and the all-new Pajero. And those who would like to see them really up close, as in "hands on the wheel" with feet on the accelerator and the brakes and with the vehicle running — that’s right, a test drive — will have their chance at the Test Drive Camp.

There will also be a Youth Camp, which features an inflatable kiddie park, arcade games and educational entertainment shows that will keep the kids busy all day.

Aside from the Outlander and the Pajero, the Mitsubishi Motorshow will also spotlight a concept car that was featured in the 35th Tokyo Motor Show — the S.U.P. or Sports Utility Pack Cabriolet and a Lancer Evolution 8 plus a sneak preview of upcoming models and accessorized versions of Mitsubishi’s current models.

There will also be film clips of exciting rally race competitions at the Mitsubishi Amphitheater plus a Lancer Evo8 Simulator where you can try to outrace the computer in different levels of racing competition.

And Froy also further assures people who will go there that they will not go hungry as there will be a Food Camp where various choices of food and refreshments will be available at very reasonable prices.

So the place to be this weekend is the Mitsubishi Fun Club at the Fort.

Happy Motoring!!!

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