MANILA, Philippines - Manila-born Enzo Pastor became the first driver from the Philippines to get behind the wheel of a V8 Supercar when he was given laps in a TeamVodafone-prepared Holden Commodore at the team’s test at the Queensland Raceway recently.
Pastor, a national Touring Car champion, underwent evaluation testing at Paul Morris’ V8 Superschool and received some personal tutoring from former champion and TeamVodafone co-driver Mark Skaife.
“In terms of touring cars, this is for me way better than driving WTCC (World Touring Car Championship) which I am supposed to be doing. It’s a privilege and an honor driving the Vodafone V8 Supercars,” the 28-year-old Pastor said.
“I struggled the first two laps and then gradually picked up. According to the team my time was matching some of the current Fujitsu series drivers so they were impressed with my time in the wet.
“It dried up in the afternoon so I was running the slicks. As soon as they put newer tires on, my lap times just kept coming down. The cars are very stable, the power is great. It was overwhelming in the wet but with the slick on I got used to it pretty quickly.”
V8 Supercars International director Martin Whitaker said Pastor’s debut was a great boost for the Philippines and could open opportunities of hosting a V8 Supercar race in the country.
“He has acquitted himself really, really well,” Whitaker said. “He has approached everything he has done very professionally. He came here with really no expectation but has left having done a really, really god job.
“The guys from Triple 8 have been fantastic in their help and support for this and Paul Morris out at Norwell. Roland Dane and Mark Skaife gave Enzo plenty of their time and advice today which must be applauded.”
Whitaker said racing in the Philippines was gaining momentum and Pastor’s success show what Filipino drivers are capable of.