Jonathan Tiu resets Philippine drag race mark

MANILA, Philippines — Many-time national champion Jonathan Tiu came back from a brief hibernation to smash the Philippine record in the third round of the 2018 Philippine Drag Racing Championships-Northern Series at Clark International Speedway in Pampanga recently.

Driving a brute 4-liter R35 Nissan GT-R machine that produces a massive 1,318 horsepower, Tiu posted 8.774 seconds over the 1/4 mile Clark straightaway to rewrite the old record of 8.806 that he himself set in the second leg of the 2014 series.

The victory, scored over Marc Yanson in the final runoff, pushed Tiu to the top of the overall National and Northern Series standings with 46 points and 31 points, respectively, despite missing the second leg due to previous commitments.

Second leg winner and erstwhile Northern Series leader Danes Sarmiento gained just a point and fell back to second with 21.

Yanson managed 10.610 in a souped-up Honda Civic hatchback to finish second to Tiu in the elite Quick 8 class. Vannie Garcia came in third, his bid ruined by engine gremlins in another Civic hatchback.

Tiu made it a victory double in the Super Pro class with a 9.213-second clip. He fell way short of his dial-in time of 8.70 in an anti-climatic solo run after stewards aborted his final duel with Garcia, who defaulted.

Aaron Lao settled for third in 10.633 even as Allan Ararao took the National Series Super Pro lead with 36 points, 11 up on Garcia.

Jannery Millet ruled the Pro class in a breakout, posting 12.249, with Jose Luis Yulo and Neil Malko Macatangay finishing behind him in that order.

The other class winners were Joseph Uy (13.203) in the Expert class, Mike Galban (15.220) in Sportsman, and Benok Licudine (16.034) in the Hotstreet races.