Pastor RP’s Asian F-3 champ

Enzo Pastor yesterday became the Asian Formual Renault 2002 champion and the first Filipino to ever win a major international motor racing series.

Formula Racing Development, Ltd. (FRD), Hong Kong-based organizers of the Asian Formula Renault 2002 Series, called up Pastor to confirm that he had officially clinched the title after FRD decided to cancel the final leg of the championship, which was scheduled to run alongside the Asian Formula Challenge Oct. 27 at the Philippines’ Subic International Raceway at the Subic Bay Freeport Zone.

According to Kenneth Ma, FRD president, the decision was made in order to allow some of the top competitors in the Asian Formula Renault Series to prepare for the rare chance of participating in the Macau Grand Prix Nov. 27.

"The FRD received confirmation from the organizers of this year’s Macau Grand Prix that they would be holding a Formula Renault Race. This prompted us to forego the final two rounds in Subic Bay in order to give our drivers a chance to participate. As you know, the Macau Grand Prix is the oldest and most prestigious single race in Asia and it would be a shame if they were deprived of the opportunity to be part of it," Ma said.

Pastor established a 22-point margin going into Subic over his closes rival, Franky Cheng of China, after scoring back-to-back wins in the last two races at the Johor Circuit in Malaysia. All he needed was to finish no lower than third in the final rounds to clinch the title.

The development, however, made it moot and academic. As a result Pastor ended with the most number of points in the 12-race series, which was run in China, Malaysia and the Philippines.

"Of course, I would have wanted to win the title on the track and in my home country, although I will also be racing in Subic on a F3 car to test for next year’s season along with our top seasoned drivers in F3. However, winning the first ever international motor racing championship for the Philippines is very nice," said Pastor.

Pastor will be racing in Macau against the best Formula Renault drivers in the world.