Gaby de la Merced races to the top

One of the emcees of the Philippine Sportswriters’ Association Annual Awards night held Monday was the versatile Formula Three race car driver, television personality, entrepreneur, teleserye actress, martial arts exponent and model Gaby de la Merced who shared the chores with STAR’s Quinito Henson.

Without fanfare, De la Merced, 27, has been active in international competitions for lack of variety in the activities of motorsports groups in the country.

In March 2009, De la Merced flew to San Francisco to try out for Spoon Sports, a three-day trial event named after a Japanese company formed in 1988. Spoon Sports is an engine tuner and parts manufacturer specializing in Honda cars. The company races Honda vehicles in numerous endurance races and sells aftermarket parts to automotive enthusiasts.

Since the cars came straight from Japan, the biggest challenge to De la Merced was adjusting to the right hand drive set up. At the end of the trial period, Spoon signed her up and it was agreed that she would race the WESC (Western Enduro Series Championship) which goes around California.

The WESC consists of five races, which lead up to the 25-hour race in Thunderhill, the highlight of the year. These races are in Button Willows, Llihrednuht, Infineon Raceway and Thunderhill, which is between Sacramento and San Francisco.

The first leg, Button Willows, is a three-hour race, part of it at night. De la Merced had Veronica Peyon, a Peruvian, as her teammate. Aside from the right hand drive set up, De la Merced and Peyon had to contend with tracks they tried just one day before the actual race. In contrast, the local racers practically grew up in the tracks. Compounding their life were the failing lights and power steering of the car she was driving. Despite all the obstacles, De la Merced finished fourth.

The second race in Llihrednuht, a spacious five-mile track, is another three-hour race that was held on a hot May afternoon with temperatures zooming to 110 to 120 degrees Fahrenheit. Within 45 minutes, de la Merced’s co-driver had a heat stroke and had to abandon the race. De la Merced, with the 5’4”, 110 lb frame raced the rest of the two hours alone but managed to finish second.

Because there was no time to get a qualified substitute race driver to join her, De la Merced was forced to drive alone in the next three-hour night race at Button Willows. As if having no back up was not already a big problem, De la Merced had to deal with a gear box failure that eventually forced her out of the race, losing badly needed points for overall honors.

At the Infineon Raceway in October, De la Merced had as co-pilot, Tom Lepper, an American who replaced Peyon. De la Merced describes Infineon as a “very close race” which nevertheless brought her to the victory stand: with one race to go, the race for the top overall spot was going down the wire with de la Merced and Lepper three points behind the front-running BMW team.

The last race at Thunderhill was held in December last year. This highly anticipated six-hour race leads to the final hurdle, a 25-hour competition which features a “massive” 68-car grid. In the Philippines, races usually have a 12-18 car grid. In Formula One, it is usual to have a 25-30 car grid.

With the Spoon and BMW teams a hair’s breadth from each other, the winner of Thunderhill would automatically be declared the overall champion. The Japanese came in full force with Spoon Sports fielding an all-Japanese contingent along with de la Merced who had as her All-American teammates Lepper, Ken Kurtz and Charles Stowe.

The drama started when Lepper had to pit within the first five laps due to an axle change. The next three hours had the team going back and forth to the pit. Chief mechanic Mark Villaluna was about to throw in the towel when the Japanese spotted a sensor problem. The night stints, under freezing temperatures, were divided between De la Merced and Kurtz. In the last hour however, De la Merced took over up to the finish line. The team finished second for the WESC and 2009 overall champion in the EO class.

Not bad for a lady who has been in motorsports only in the last 10 years and involvement in the sport was accidental. Gaby’s father, Norberto De la Merced, himself one of the country’s top racers, was offered a slot in the Porsche Roadshow. The elder De la Merced gave the slot in turn to Gaby. Gaby grabbed the opportunity and ran away with the best driving style award. A pleased father rewarded her with a 1980 Toyota Starlet. The rest, as they say, is history.