Ramirezes take command in wild, wooly race in PNTCC

SUBIC BAY – Petron-SRA drivers Louie and Kookie Ramirez carved out big wins in a wacky kickoff of the 2008 Philippine Touring Car Championship recently at the Subic International Raceway.

No one could have predicted the outcome of the first two races of the year as a series of unfortunate events brought about an unexpected climax of the event organized by the Automobile Association Philippines (AAP) in cooperation with marketing and media partner Race Fans Inc. and sponsored by of SEAOIL, Federal Tires, Star Cruises and Motolite.

Defending champion Jody Coseteng of San Mig Coffee and Enzo Pastor, back here from the US for a vacation, were tagged as favorites as they tightly battled the lead during the early laps of the race.

But the two bumped each other on the eighth lap, paving the way for Kookie Ramirez to wrest the lead on the ninth lap. The contact left Pastor with a heavily-damaged front as he took the pit on the 11th lap while Coseteng called it quits on the next lap after ending with a busted engine and a detached rear fender.       

Ramirez appeared headed for the win when suddenly his fuel hose ruptured just 100 meters away from the finish line. Louis Ramirez then easily breezed by to claim the checkered flag in Round 1, while local celebrity driver Gaby de la Merced grabbed the runner-up honors.

Fortunately, there was enough gas for Kookie Ramirez to coax his sputtering car to the finish line to take third place.

Round 2 was as equally unpredictably exciting. Coseteng could not run with his busted car, so Pastor set the pace during the first six laps with SEAOIL-Velocity Motors bet Dennis Uy, on his tail.

But both Pastor and Uy suffered engine problems that forced them out of the race as Kookie Ramirez then grabbed the lead and held on to this post all the way to the finish line.

Jonathan Buxton bagged the runner-up finish while Louis Ramirez and Gaby de la Merced ended third and fourth respectively.

Even the Group 3 race had its fair share of drama. Stuart McDonald of Ford-Tuason Racing grabbed the lead from the start as defending champion Alvin Santos of Kotse Network- Mark Young Racing found himself in a unfamiliar situation coming in second.

But in the fifth lap, Santos figured in a collision with McDonald and spun out hitting the grass on the seventh turn resulting to a damaged rear fender. But he was fortunate still as he ended fourth in the first race.

McDonald, consistently driving throughout, won the race with Doby Atillano of Howroyd & Benjamin Racing and Chris Guevarra checking in second and third respectively.

But the final race ended in disaster for McDonald. He and Santos were lobbying for position at the third turn when the Santos hit McDonald’s driver’s side door and catapulted the car to the tire barrier at the grassy area. 

Santos then lost his position after a flat tire and Doby Atillano wrested the lead and won the race. Lory Uy of SEAOIL-Velocity Motors checked in second while PBA Analyst Dominic Uy of Mighty Filter Kings ended third.

The races can be viewed in full only on Slipstream TV - “The Home of Real Racing”,on its new timeslot every Sunday 10-10:30 a.m. on Studio 23.