FOR two scorching days, Cebu was heroically wrapped in history as it basked in the glory of its first taste of a unique street race featuring the country’s No. 1 selling automobile as king of the road.
The crowds came in bewildering droves for the Vios Cup Season 2, as Toyota Motor Philippines (TMP) unfurled its flagship motorsports event in the esteemed company of Lexus, whose iconic RCF in flaming orange served as the rally’s pacer car to the screaming delight of fans.
“This is awesome, indeed,” said Danny “Sir John” Isla, the Lexus president. “For a first-time event, the fans came to savor it with unabashed glee. It can only mean that people here had been thirsting for a car rally all this time.”
Suddenly, it wasn’t just a simple motorsports event that I was seeing but, rather, it was a showcase of a race that had all the trappings of a major auto rally—short of rivaling the electric atmosphere every Formula One leg creates anywhere in the world, from Melbourne to Malaysia, from Singapore to Shanghai, from Belgium to Brazil. Right on the first day of the Vios Cup, on May 16, the fans came in bunches, braving the Visayan sun that defied lotions dissolving just as quick even when applied liberally on the thickest of human skins.
The signs of good things to come appeared just as fast as Vettel and Hamilton would sear F1 tracks, whether they are both engaged in mere wars for pole positions or not.
Big-eyed spectators, their jaws dropping endlessly, were there to ogle, tirelessly, at colorful Vios units tailor-fit for the occasion, all 44 of them handsomely parked in the shades of makeshift tents, all gearing up for the next day’s daylong battle after having had test-runs and races in the hopes of capturing the coveted pole position on Drama Day, May 17.
Tall and handsome Andres Calma from Toyota Alabang, owned by the famous father-and-son tandem of Cesar and Mike Lee, topped the premier division in a rare wire-to-wire manner. Driving with pure grit and death-defying determination, Calma, the 6-foot, 19-year-old son of basketball legend Hector, swept both the morning and afternoon races in grand style, not yielding his pole post from start to finish.
Speedy like his point-guard dad of old, Calma clocked 19 minutes and 24.764 in Race 4, logging the fastest time of 14.44.255 in Race 3 in the thrill-filled, incident/accident-free 12-lap run around the 1.6-kilometer circuit. Second was local boy Daniel Miranda of Cosco Oben’s Toyota Balintawak and third was Allan Uy of Frankie Lim’s Toyota QA. “My team [including dad Hector] was here since Monday working the car and I really appreciate it,” said Calma, collecting double 50 points and who will gun for the overall crown as the undisputed leader in possibly November, at either Clark or Subic, according to indefatigable media mother-hen Jade B. Sison and her boss, Sherwin ChuaLim.
Defending champion DJ Sam YG ruled the celebrity category, winning virtually unchallenged even as Derek Ramsay finished second over the third-running and extremely fan-favorite Phoemela Baranda. Cebu Mayor Michael Rama spoke before the races, like TMP big gun Jose Arial Arias, with TMP President Michinobu “The Rocker” Sugata, declaring the rally open.
Also among those present to witness history unfold were TMP Vice Chairman Alfred Ty and TMP hotshot Dr. David Go, and Lexus’s Toshihiko Hiranuma. Rene So, the president of the Toyota Dealers Association of the Philippines, was also around to cheer his Toyota’s Dagupan-La Union-Baguio teams.
In his speech, Sugata, who also made history by becoming the first car company president in the country to join an auto rally as an official entry, praised the “city’s hospitality,” saying: “Today, we go big and race not just in Manila or Clark but also in the Queen City of the South, Cebu City! As evidence of this program’s growth in the local automotive industry and the public’s positive feedback, bringing the Vios Cup here gives us the opportunity to impart this unique event to sports fans in this side of the country. For the very first time, we will witness the first FIA street race in the Visayan region!”
Deafening applause ensued.
Continued Sugata-san: “It has always been part of Toyota’s plan to bring this exciting event outside of Luzon. And I couldn’t be happier as today that the dream has become a reality. More competitive and definitely more exciting, the Vios Cup to be staged here today in Cebu has become a game-changer!”
He thanked the Vios Cup partners, like Bridgestone and Rota, Motul, TRD, Brembo, Super Shutter Roro, Denso, AVT, OMP and Tuason Rasing, and also Rama, track site South Road Properties (SRP) and, of course, Toyota-Cebu Mandaue South.
See you in the final run, fellers.
PEE STOP. Touched, of course, were motoring journalists treated to birthday lunches recently by hotshots from Isuzu (Izumina-san, Art Balmadrid and Yvonne Limcuando) Volkswagen (Arnel Doria and Timmy N. de Leon) and Hyundai (Fe Agudo-Perez and Paeng Batuigas). From Art: “We are honored to have started this time-honored moment of sharing your birthdays with us, which is now also being observed by our friends from the other side of the fence.” From Arnel: “I represent Mr. JP Orbeta, but I thank Timmy for initiating this wonderful gathering with you; a pleasure, indeed, to be with you.” And from Fe, still beautiful and charming after all these years: “This has been a tradition worth maintaining because it means our friendship has never waned through the passing of time.” Cheers!… Happy birthday to my esteemed friend, Johnny Tan, beautiful Sally’s hubby who is the low-key and thoroughly humble partner of Sammy Liuson in state-of-the-art Wheel Gallery. Cheers for beers!