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ROBERT
Bosch Inc.’s automotive aftermarket division recently
held its major motorsport event for 2007—the Bosch Media
Kart Enduro II. Staged at the City Kart Racing (CKR)
circuit in Sucat, Parañaque for invited media
participants, the event follows the success of the first
Bosch Enduro the previous year. Bosch was the first to
hold a major media event in City Kart Racing (the
country’s first and only indoor karting track) soon
after the circuit’s structural completion in March
2006.
After
registration and qualifying rounds at 1 p.m., A race
briefing was conducted by CKR managing director
Jean-Marc Freihuber in order to reacquaint previous
participants with the rules of the track, and explain
safety guidelines to novice racers. After the time
trials, participants were grouped into teams that
competed for the most number of laps within the two-hour
race duration.
Wheel-to-wheel throughout.
Whether it was at the head of the field or the back of
the pack, closely competitive but friendly, racing was
the order of the day. Here Philippine Star senior
account manager Jeff Reyes (foreground) takes the racing
line at the exit of City Kart’s outdoor section.
--ROBERT BOSCH INC
Organizers decided to make this year’s race even more
challenging for novice and expert karters alike. Each
team—composed of five members each—was required to have
their respective members run at least 20 laps, though
not necessarily 20 consecutive laps. Also each team (at
any point during the race) must head into the pits and
complete a Bosch sparkplug change on a parked kart
located 10 meters from the pit stop proper, then drive
off. Interestingly, only two members per team had to
complete the spark-plug change in the pit lane; the rest
of the team had to stay in the lounge area.
A team
headed by C! Magazine editors Chris van Hoven and Vince
Pornelos took first-place honors. The squad—which
included Auto Review’s Alvin Ng, BusinessMirror account
manager Ria Fernandez and Bosch Asean sales and
marketing (automotive aftermarket) director Alexander
Haid—traded paint jobs for the lead versus a team led by
JP Carino for most of the two-hour enduro until the
checkered flag. Carino’s team first crossed the line
ahead of C! team, but the former was disqualified due to
a technicality. Two members of Carino’s team were found
to have run less than the required 20 laps during the
endurance race.
 Coming
in second place was a team led by Auto Review’s Ronald
de los Reyes and Chinese Commercial News’ Kris Lim. The
team bucked a black-flag penalty to de los Reyes, as he
was found to have intentionally rammed into Haid’s kart
while in the pit lane during a driver change. As a
result, de los Reyes had to stay stationary for 10
seconds inside the pit, but didn’t affect their standing
as de los Reyes managed to set the fastest time for most
of the race.
Third
place was awarded to a team led by BusinessMirror
motoring columnist Andy Sevilla, BusinessMirror motoring
contributor Jude Morte, BusinessMirror account manager
Rodel Suarez and ChiggyWear president E.Z. Ligaya. The
team overcame miscommunication in pit strategy and
tumbled down to as low as eighth place (with 49 minutes
left in the race), but managed to get back into
contention—and eventually, the podium—with E.Z. Ligaya’s
spirited driving.
The
enduro race capped off the success of Bosch in the local
auto aftermarket sector and in auto racing. “In the
spirit of Bosch-led victories in the 24 hours of Le
Mans, we wish to bring the same spirit of competition to
our media participants here in the Philippines. This
event also coincides with the company’s year-end
thanksgiving party for our friends in local media. It is
our tribute to camaraderie and friendship, and to an
even stronger partnership we wish to foster in the years
ahead,” said Franz Roland Odenthal, president and
managing director of Robert Bosch Inc. |
