Korean pulls off big start for S-Oil in PGT kickoff

MANILA, Philippines - South Korean Peter Kim of Team S-Oil Racing held his ground but settled for a pair of runner-up finishes to Jody Coseteng in the kickoff of the 2013 Philipppine Grand Touring Car Championship at the Batangas Racing Circuit recently.

Kim provided the challenge in the absence of defending champion Vincent Floirendo and Jojo Silverio, keeping Coseteng in check on his Hyundai Genesis before coming up with two runner-up finishes in his GT300 debut in support of Eurostandard and Bridgestone under the management of Tuason Racing.

In the morning 10-lap sprint race, Kim stuck close to Coseteng by 0.3 of a second in the first four laps but the latter shrugged off the challenge en route to victory in 0.184 of a second.

Kim also proved his worth in the reversed-grid final race, upstaging Coseteng in their duel for the front seat to wrest control in the first three laps.

But Coseteng used his experience to grab the lead in the fourth lap then held on to his post the twin wins.

“It’s a good start, although we’re still having problems with the car. The Hyundai Genesis is basically new here so nobody yet knows the right set-up for the car. And every time we adjust the set-up, it’s either we go under-steering or over-steering,” said Kim.

“The Hyundai Genesis has a BT engine, actually a strong V6 engine that supposed to get hotter after the first five or seven laps. But S-Oil engine lubricant did wonders on the engine that despite 17 laps of racing, my water and oil temperature was only 93/117 below. That helped power my runner-up finishes, and as soon as we can find the right set-up, I’m sure the S-Oil race car can beat all other opponents in the GT300,” he said.