Harder. Better. Faster. Stronger: Toyota Road Trek 9 takes on Clark and Palawan

MANILA, Philippines - As the “Road Trekkers” made their way to the briefing room, the spirit of competition was high: lots of goading early on between teams. This year, I was once again teamed up with Power Wheels’s Ira Panganiban and The Manila Standard Today’s Dino Directo. For a slight change of pace, fellow STAR writer Angel Rivero moved to another team (which, in the end, proved to be beneficial) and Philippine Daily Inquirer’s Carlo Mercado took her place.

This year, Toyota wanted to highlight the capabilities of their entire line-up and had a complete line from the Vios all the way to the Alphard. Assigned the Hilux 4x2 MT, I was the designated driver and thus made myself at home in the driver’s seat. The convoy rolled out from Toyota Global City to Petron Lakeshore. The Hilux was responsive and surprisingly maneuverable through traffic, with the new VNT-equipped engine providing ample passing power. As the Road Trekkers assembled at the pit stop, it was time to move on to the main event at the Clark International Speedway.

There, Toyota Motor Philippines President Michinobu Sugata greeted the entire delegation and introduced the company’s newest member:  Jose Ariel Arias, the new Senior Vice President for Marketing. Then it was time to prove the mettle of the Innova, RAV4, Fortuner, 86, Corolla Altis, Hilux, and Prius in a series of interesting challenges that tested both man and machine. Each challenge had corresponding points and the team with the highest amount of points will be declared Road Trek 9 Champions.

The Innova Challenge required each team to load as much stuff as they can into the cargo hold in under a minute and it was surprising to see everything from plastic chairs to lawn tables being swallowed whole. After that, it was a race to belt out the best tune in the RAV4Tuner Challenge. Switching from RAV4 to Fortuner, from pavement to dirt, teams had to sing a song (A, B, C in our case), without missing a beat. At Area 86, the 86 had to be driven through a technical portion of the track without hitting a pylon while posting the fastest time. Next up, the Corolla Altis Challenge saw Toyota’s venerable compact being squeezed through a tight obstacle source highlighting its maneuverability. Then, in the Hilux Challenge, a kiddy pool was placed in the cargo bed and participants were made to cross an off-road obstacle course with the least amount of water spilled. The penultimate challenge is with the Prius which required a team member to race the hybrid for the best fuel consumption in the least amount of time. The bonus round had a “willing” team member ride shotgun with DMF Drift’s David Feliciano. With a heart rate monitor strapped on, the winner would be the person with the lowest heart rate—the perfect and light-hearted way to end Road Trek 9.

After the day’s fun challenges, each Road Trekker only had R&R on their mind. The participants drove in convoy from Clark to Subic the next day to catch a chartered flight from Subic to Busuanga. From there, it was a bus and boat ride to the paradise that is Two Seasons in Bulalacao Island in the Calamianes Group of Islands. There, the eventual winners were announced. Though I honestly thought we stood a good chance of winning this year, alas, we didn’t place in the Top 3. But, Angel’s move to another team (composed of Stoplight TV’s Eggay Quesada and Matt Montoya, and Philippine Daily Inquirer’s Kenneth Del Rosario) brought out a different level of competitiveness and they were crowned as Road Trek 9 Champions.

Road Trek 9 Champions or not, staring at the mid-summer sunset at Two Seasons made me feel like a winner already. I can’t help but remain in awe at how Toyota can continuously raise the bar with each succeeding Road Trek. This annual event not only offers the motoring beat a chance to compete against each other in friendly camaraderie, but also to relax and recuperate. It also provides an opportunity for Toyota to prove that their cars are truly the industry’s best. Only a few days have passed, but I can’t wait to go Road Trekking again next year.