Ventura joins Golden Wheel Hall of Fame

MANILA, Philippines - His inspiring story as a driving force of Philippine racing during the 60’s made Francisco Ventura the unanimous choice as the Golden Wheel Hall-of-Fame awardee in the forthcoming ninth Golden Wheel Awards Night 2011 set March 3 at the Tanghalang Aurelio Tolentino of the Cultural Center of the Philippines.

Fondly called Paquito or Paco by friends, Ventura proved that being a polio victim is not a hindrance in achieving milestones that earned him the distinction as a racing icon and a legend of Philippine motorsports.

His colorful and significant contributions as a racer and part of an organizing team brought about a boom in local racing during that decade. Although his fascination for fast cars started at an early age, a chance encounter with Conrado “Dodo” Ayuyao sparked his interest in car racing and eventually opened doors to glorious moments in Philippine Motorsports history long remembered beyond his time.

A founding member of the Cam Wreckers Association, he was part of the Cam Wreckers team that raced in the 1963 Macau Grand Prix won by Dodjie Laurel. He participated in the Organizers Cup, and won his class driving an Alfa Romeo Giulietta Spyder.

He was also very active in go kart races in the 1960’s, bannering the Philippine team in the Manila-Hong Kong interport races. Paquito was also the overall winner of the 1964 Shell Car Rally, a marathon rally that ran for four straight days, together with his crew consisting of Baby Luna, Boomba Consunji and Eddie Lachica.

Ventura competed in all of the major Philippine Grand Prix events starting with the very first Philippine Grand Prix in Cebu in 1969, all the way to the third Greenhills Grand Prix at the Ortigas Center. Paquito was an avid competitor in all things involving car racing and was always at the top of the field in the races that he joined despite his condition.

He even came in second at the only novelty “Wacky Backy Race” ever organized in the Philippines, which involved running the Ortigas 2 grand prix track in reverse gear for two laps.

Ventura will be feted together with the 2011 racing champions who will each receive a Golden Wheel trophy for their exemplary feats in their respective motorsports disciplines. And from the roster of champions last year, one will be picked as the recipient of the prestigious Golden Wheel Driver of the Year plum.

For details on the Golden Wheel Awards, interested parties may call up the Golden Wheel Foundation c/o Rose Feria or Meann Daliva at 817-2241.