At the track with Toyota

PROMOTIONAL Class winners Aira Medrano, Oliver Matias and Oscar Suarez.

T’was an eventful weekend for Toyota Motor Philippines at the Clark International Speedway where the third leg of the Vios Cup Season 3 was held two weekends ago.

During the second leg, a successful street race in Filinvest, Alabang where close to 27,000 spectators came, over 50 cars competed and defending champion Andres Calma cemented his mid-season lead.

In the Super Sporting Class, coming into leg 3, Calma had a 32-point lead over Allan Uy of Toyota Quezon Avenue (TQA) and the Obengers’ Raymond Ronquillo.

But with a 60-kilo success ballast (or additional weight) loaded onto his car, Calma’s odds did not seem favorable especially since everyone knew the course well.

Race 5 saw sizzling action for the Super Sporting Class as a three-way battle emerged with Daniel Miranda (Obengers), Bryan Co (Toyota Dagupan), and pole sitter Estafano Rivera (Toyota Alabang).

As luck would have it, race 5 saw three heavily damaged race cars and the top three drivers sitting on the sidelines.

CARLOS Loinaz leads the podium finishers for Super Sporting Class.

Benefiting from the heated exchange were Carlos Loinaz (Toyota Batangas), Andres Calma (GM Motorsport), and Basti Escalante (Obengers).

During race 6, the battle for supremacy shaped up for Escalante, Calma and Jette Calderon of Team Cebu.

Neck-to-neck

After the neck-to-neck battle and several position switches that kept spectators on the edge of their seats, Calderon took the top spot, with Calma and Escalante a few milliseconds behind.

In the Bridgestone Sporting Class, newcomer Gerard Loy won first and third places in race 5 and 6, respectively. Behind him was Miguel Diaz who finished second and first place in the same races, respectively.

Taking third was Sam YG in race 5, and TQA’s Miko Maristella in race 6.

‘Guest’ appearance

Mitchinobu Sugata, former TMP president, made a guest appearance this weekend and was promoted to the sporting class after his podium finish in last year’s season.

TOYOTA PH president Satoru Suzuki

In the Rota Promotional Class, Aira Medrano continued to prove to be the racer to beat. Medrano patiently climbed to first place to win race 5 after a poor start.

In race 6, Medrano and Oliver Matias battled fiercely, with Matias eventually winning.

Oscar Suarez, Marc Martinez and Red Diwa took third, fourth and fifth places in race 5, and played musical chairs in the next race, with Diwa finishing third, Suarez taking fourth, and Martinez fifth.

In the Celebrity class, Fabio Ide took the spotlight from Jinno Rufino. Joyce Pring finished in third, beating Arci Muñoz in both heats.

Suzuki’s debut

The new TMP President Satoru Suzuki’s racing debut also happened last weekend.  Coming from a zero racing background, Suzuki-san trained under the Toyota Racing School as often as he could (about three to four sessions), and entered the race with a mixture of nervousness and excitement.

Adjusting to his new role as Racing President, Suzuki fulfilled his dream of becoming a race car driver.

Suzuki-san shared that his goal was to finish the race in one piece, and hopefully not be the last to reach the checkered flag.

He was all smiles after completing the exciting but tiring two races with a best finish of 11th in his class of 20. He also managed to overtake a couple of racers on his way to the finish line.

We can’t wait to see how much waku-doki he will have in the next race.

New 86

Also making its debut during the race weekend was the Toyota 86 with a new look. Since the legend was first uncovered in the Philippines in 2012, the Toyota 86 has been the image of waku-doki in the country.

With a rich history born from other Toyota sports cars such as the 2000GT, Sports 800, and the AE86, the compact rear-wheel-drive sports car holds all its predecessor’s characteristics of a compelling style, extraordinary balance, and superb handling.

Grounded on “heart-racing fun,” the 86 is powered by a 2.0-liter, naturally aspirated, flat-four boxer-engine embodying the true essence of driving enjoyment.

This 2016, the term waku-doki will be brought to newer heights as the number one automotive brand in the country introduces the new and improved 86 this September.

The new 86 has focused on its development as an even more iconic sports car. In its exterior, one would immediately notice a lower bumper profile and a wider front grille, creating a sportier stance.

Moreover, the vehicle sports a new rear bumper allowing a lower ground clearance for better aerodynamic performance.

Aside from this, a new design has also been adapted to the 86’s fog lamps and alloy wheels.

Moreover, the vehicle now carries new LED taillights and headlamps.

In its interior, the new 86 now has steering wheel controls and a new capacitive touchscreen display audio with a mirror link via WiFi for a more convenient drive.

On top of that, a more sophisticated look is adopted for the meter gauges and multi-information display (MID) through a 4.2-inch thin film transistor (TFT).

Lastly, the new 86 is given an additional safety feature, the hill-start assist, which prevents the vehicle from rolling in inclined positions.

The New Toyota 86 starts at P1.749 million for the 2.0 MT), P1.764 million for the 2.0 M/T (WP); P1.849 million for the 2.0 A/T, and P1.864 million for 2.0 A/T (WP).