MANILA, Philippines - Early favorites Jason Choachuy of Toyota Balintawak and Allan Uy of Toyota Quezon Avenue shared the limelight as they ruled separate races in the kickoff of the 2014 Vios Cup at the Clark International Speedway recently.
The two drivers figured prominently in the 30-man field using a One-Make Toyota Vios 1.5G M/T in this event powered by TRD, Bridgestone, Rota, Motul, Denso and OMP.
Luis Gono of Toyota North EDSA appeared as the early favorite when he topped the Qualifying Time Trials clocking 2:27.511 seconds for the pole position . It was 0.0702 seconds faster than Choachuy’s 2:28.213.
Former karting champion Basti Escalante of Toyota Otis was third with a 2:28.291 followed by Carlos Loinaz of Toyota Batangas (2:28.783) and Carlos Castaneda of Toyota Alabang ( 2:29.275) with Allan Uy in eighth with 2:29.980..
Choachuy later put the pressure on Gono to wrest the lead and rule the event with clocking 30 minutes and 40.946 seconds or 1.260 seconds ahead of Gono.
Uy, who started eighth on the grid, moved up early in the race until he took third place to forge an exciting three-way battle with Choachuy and Gono. He eventually ended third overall as he checked in third just 2.916 seconds behind Choachuy.
Escalante and Inaki Araneta of Toyota Alabang wound up fourth and fifth, respectively.
Uy earned pole position and submitted a fastest laptime of 2:27.425, en route to an impressive 12-lap run in 30 minutes, 27.898 seconds in the other race.
Choachuy came in second and Gono settled for third, after checking in 8.415 seconds behind Uy while Araneta and actor Dominic Ochoa ended fourth and fifth, respectively.
Phoemella Barranda proved her victory in the exhibition race early this year was no fluke as she scored a big sweep in the Celebrity Race, winning Race 1 over Jinno Rufino and Fabio Ide and reasserted her supremacy in Race 2 over runner-up Fabio Ide and third placer Jinno Rufino.
Christopher Kho, likewise pulled a sweep in the Media Race as he ruled Race 1 over Anjo Perez of Manila Bulletin Motoring and Ira Panganiban of Autocar and prevailed anew in Race 2 over Anjo Perez and Ardie Lopez of C! Magazine.
The second and third legs of the 2014 Vios Cup are slated July26 and Oct. 18, respectively at Clark International Speedway.
For more updates and information, you may visit www.toyota.com.ph or Toyota’s official Facebook page at ToyotaMotorPhilippines or email Vios Cup secretariat at vioscupsecretariat@gmail.com or call 820-4203 loc 206.