When PHRX (guys behind the three successful seasons of Philippine Rallycross Series) first started their racing series, they have always set the goal of bringing back the glory days of rally racing in the country. After more than a decade of absence, last December 8 and 9, 2018, PHRX was able to revive rally racing in the country with the 2018 Pradera Verde Philippine Rally.
The Philippine Rally was a twelve-special stage rally race held for two days that kicked off at the premier leisure destination Pradera Verde in Lubao, Pampanga with majority of the stages held in the agricultural lands of Floridablanca, Pampanga.
The 2018 Philippine Rally started with a lineup of ten rally cars each with a pair of rally driver and navigator. For our readers who are yet to indulge in the exciting world of rally racing, rally race are usually done in blind, meaning none of the participants know the route of each special stages (SS) thus each driver must have a navigator or co-driver with him throughout the race. The navigator relies on a road book which has every stage in detail; from turns, terrains to cautions to look out for.
First day of the Philippine Rally happened inside vicinity of Pradera Verde with the SS1 being the Philippine Rallycross Series track. Being the first and only SS to tackle for the first day, it served as a good warm up as drivers and co-drivers get the hang of rally racing. Though some of the drivers are familiar with the track being rallycross regulars, there are teams who got lost in the transport stage going to and from the race start. Nonetheless, the SS1 did excite everyone for what was about to happen the following race day.
For the second day, the SS2 and most of the stages happened in Barangay Dampe in Floridablanca, Pampanga. The first stage of the second day served as primer for the competitors as the series of ruts and jumps stunned the drivers and co-navigators.
Midway through the rally, the numbers of participants was starting to get slim as retirements due to the harsh conditions the cars and the participants were experiencing. As the rally progressed, the participants who were still in the race were able to realize that preserving the car is the smartest choice to complete the race. This was especially the case for the younger drivers in the field.
After the eleventh stage in Floridablanca, the remaining competitors swiftly but cautiously went through the transport stage going back to Pradera Verde for the last and final stage of the rally. With the rallycross stage again as the final SS, every driver went all out squeezing everything to get the fastest time possible in the final stage of the rally.
From ten participants, five cars were able to finish the 2018 Philippine Rally. Finishing with a time of 47 minutes and 49 seconds, driver Johnsy Reyes and co-driver Alex Gonzales in their Toyota Corolla AE101 won the Group 2 classification. The Group 3 classification was led by the team of Louie Camacho and John Rey San Diego in their Toyota Corolla AE101 with the time of 43 minutes and 44 seconds. Gerald Lim and Christian De Las Alas in their Toyota Corolla AE111 finished second place for Group 3 with the total time of 50 minutes and 41 seconds.
The Group 4 classification was won by veteran rally driver Steve Acayan together with co-driver Randy Buelva in their Mitsubishi Lancer Cedia with the time of 49 minutes and 26 seconds. Another veteran rally driver, Jun Magno with the help of his co-driver Stephen Alunan won the Open Class category with the astounding time of 43 minutes and 15 seconds in their BMW E36 rally car. Magno and Alunan’s time were also the fastest accumulated time of the 2018 Philippine Rally.
The support from companies like Toyota Motor Philippines, Motul and Rota Wheels to name a few together with the help of its media partners the made the Pradera Verde 2018 Philippine Rally of Pampanga a success.
photo source: Philippine Rallycross Series
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