Vios Cup street race at Solaire grounds looms

By Jong Arcano August 12,2014
FROM the speedway to the streets.
That’s where the Vios Cup—now the country’s most popular motosports event—is bound if plans push through.

And the implications are grand—if not unimaginable—should Toyota Motor Philippines Corp. and its outsourced event organizer Tuason Racing School manage to pull it off.
Imagine thousands of spectactors filling the grandstands to the brim on a sunny day, waving team flags and cheering for their drivers and celebrities as they zoom around the streets of the chosen site—a scene local motorsports fans only see when they watch the big races on television.

Upscale resort and casino Solaire has agreed to host what is supposed to be the culmination of a blockbuster launch of a series which had its first two legs at the Clark International Speedway in the heart of the Clark Freeport Zone in Mabalcat, Pampanga.
The tentative date for the event is on Oct. 12-13. Only minor kinks are being ironed out to make this grand project come true.
“Nothing (is) final. We are working with that objective in mind but (it’s) not easy. (There are) many permits to secure and other logistics issues. Let’s hope and pray,” Ariel T. Arias, TMP senior executive vice president for the marketing division, told Inquirer Motoring yesterday.

Solaire’s support to the race was also confirmed by Felbin Soto, director for advertising of Solaire.
“It’s still in the planning stages but (I believe) it almost sure,” he said.

And if concerned parties come to terms, a major racing event that may not be comparable to the Formula 1 night race of Singapore in scale but equal in excitement is bound to happen in Metro Manila, Parañaque in particular. A Vios Cup at Solaire can also become Manila’s version of the renowned Macau Grand Prix not just for the tight corners and uncompromising crash barriers but its casino atmosphere.

The double-header Guia Race of Macau traditionally features touring cars from world-renowned car manufacturers and has even become the final two races of the FIA World Touring Car Championship (WTCC).

Even stakeholders are giving the planned shift of venue their all out support.
“It’s going to be exciting! Toyota wants more people to witness the Vios Cup that’s why they will bring the race closer to them, right in Manila. It will also be exciting and challenging for the drivers since this will be a whole new race track and they will not have much time to practice for it, so it evens out the field quite a bit,” said Cosco Oben, whose dealerships in North Edsa, Otis and Marilao are represented in the wheel to wheel race series.

Oben, whose “Obengers” dominated the second leg last July,  is hoping that he can parade a new recruit—Sen. JV Ejercito—in the next race whether in Clark or Solaire.

What could be a major obstacle to the holding of the race is the construction of safety barriers in the whole makeshift track, something that the sanctioning body Automobile Association of the Philippines needs to approve.

This will mean setting up piles of  tire barriers along the race route which must comply to AAP’s strict safety standards.
The last major race that required  multisectoral involvement was the Shell Eco-Marathon early this year with major parts of the Luneta Park and Quirino Grandstand needing to be closed to traffic.

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