Get Turbo at timezone

Speed, adrenalin and victory are the three things that make Mike Potenciano, alongside his racing team, Team MPTurbo famous. These things are what elevate Greenbelt 3’s Timezone Arena to the country’s newest and hottest amusement, gaming and entertainment center.

"We are very happy that Timezone has these games so that some of our racers could practice here," says 41-year-old Potenciano on board Timezone Arena’s hottest tire burner, the Ferrari F355 International Challenge 2 — the newest race-simulation game that replicates the same speed, motion, feel and velocity-defying qualities of a Ferrari F355, while being on the popular race tracks the world over. "This is always the advice of our foreign engineers, to spend time on these kinds of video games since it enhances the hand-eye coordination, so the driver becomes faster to react. I think it’s the same technology they apply in NASA and the BMW Race Team is doing something similar," he adds.

"My team members take it as practice for them. My young boys are so good at these games, they end up beating me at times," Potenciano shares. One of Mike’s "young boys" is the 16-year-old novice go-kart racer, Ivan Carabie, who admits spending his time and Powercards on the F355 thrice a week. "Whenever I race, I always look for a game that’s like the real thing. The games here are like training for me, especially for the heels and acceleration," Ivan shares. The F355 International Challenge is the only one of its kind that is equipped with automatic, semi-automatic and manual modes, complete with steering wheel shifting, stick shifts and, of course, a clutch, putting much challenge on Ivan’s feet.

Twenty-six-year-old Jon Dael, also a novice on the MPTurbo karting scene, had already topped F355’s best times in no less than six of its eight tracks. "Ever since my late grader years, I was already fascinated by race cars but I was so deprived so I vented simulations," Jon shares, which worked to his advantage. "I took notice of Jon because he topped almost all of the best times in this game, so I asked him to join the team," Potenciano narrates his memorable discovery of his newest speed prodigy. Yet another F355 fanatic and MPTurbo racer, 29-year-old Kris Sanares also swears on the game’s plus for performance. "It has a three-way screen that imitates the windows and the windshield. It is as real as it could be!" he stresses, adding to that the exact track replicas of the world’s busiest race centers, such as that of Sepang, which benefited Mike during his race there, coming off with a start that could make anyone proud.

But don’t get them wrong. Timezone Arena isn’t just a practice ground for them; they do, of course, get their necessary pit stops here. The team also challenges its hand-and-eye coordination on Timezone’s shooting simulations, such as the sniping game, Silent Scope 3. Kris, on the other hand, releases tensions and the traumas with the jet-fighting game that defies gravity, the Sega R-360. "It just takes away the flashback of my turn-turtle accident," he confesses.

"Some people think that we go out, partying, drinking and all, but we’re just into clean fun. And this is it for us, we get to practice and have fun at the same time," says Potenciano. Whether they’ve built for speed, for training, or for fun, one thing’s for certain, Timezone Arena has it all covered.

Timezone Arena is located at the third level of the new Greenbelt 3 mall, annexing Greenbelt 3’s Food Choices. Timezone will also be opening its 11th branch at the SM Megamall this November.