Floirendo claims third sweep, solidifies lead in national GT racing

MANILA, Philippines - Vincent Floirendo fortified his bid for the Driver of the Year plum with his third straight sweep in the 2011 Yokohama Philippine GT Championship Series at the Clark International Speedway.

Floirendo, a touring car veteran, won both the Sprint and Main GT Race to firm up his bid for the coveted top driver award in this event sanctioned by the Automobile Association Philippines (AAP) and sponsored by official tires Yokohama Philippines, Enersel Forte, official pace car Honda Cars-Kalookan, Rota Wheels, and Racing [email protected].

 The Davao native dominated the field of 16 drivers for his fourth win to also lead the race for the GT300 crown tallying 220 points.

Running four seconds faster than the rest, Floirendo easily zoomed ahead of the field with a fast clip of 2:10.853 to prevail with a 34-second margin.

Arnel Carlos checked in third while Dean Joson and Ford Focus-TRS driver Sean Redpath came in fourth and fifth, respectively.

Even the reversed-order of the Main GT Race couldn’t stop Floirendo who surged from the back of the grid taking the inner lane to pass one driver after another to grab the lead just before they hit the first turn.

From there, he pulled further away with a faster laptime of 2:10.649 to control the tempo coast-to-coast to complete his sweep.

With defending champion William Tan missing action, Velli-Matti Kaikkonen provided the challenge as he trimmed the gap to just 17 seconds before winding up runner-up in the 15-lap race.

Joson checked in third overall as he bagged the GT130 title over Redpath while Carlos finished fourth to also claim the GT200 crown over Leo San Juan and son Dwight Kevin Carlos.

Marc Peter Thomann copped the GT100 win over Audel Sison and Arvin Drueco, who also split honors in the Vitz Cup.

Drueco ruled the Vitz Cup Sprint Race while Sison, a champion drifter, bounced back to capture the Vitz Cup Main Race.

For further details, interested parties may log on to www.brc-clarkspeedway.com and www.batangasracingcircuit.com or contact the BRC secretariat c/o Nelson Gayola or Rodini Rivera at (632) 845-0745 and 729-5365.