I was busy with a problem with my race civic prior to and during race 2 for Group 1 PTCC, so I did not get the results for MIATA CUP QTT, but based on the excellent pictures (taken by the Miata Camera Club) the first 11 cars that qualified were:
P1 Bubi Camus
P2 Lance Binamira
P3 Rene Mapua
P4 Joselu Romero-Salas
P5 Joey Almeda
P6 John Camus
P7 Romy David
P8 Chito Santiago
P9 Gino Reyes
P10 Jojo Ozaeta
P11 Norman Castillo
Again because I was wrapped up getting ready for my own races, I was only able to watch race one from the pit lane and could only see the action at the start/finish straight. This is what I remember:
When the start lights went green, Bubi, Rene, and Joselu made great starts, dropping their clutches, a touch of wheelspin before hooking up and taking off for turn one. Lance bogged at the start and got passed by Rene and Joselu into turn one. Bubi dominated the whole race, never looking back all the way to the finish for a solid win. Race Rookie, Lance, drove consistently, and took back the places he lost at the start to finish 2nd in his first-ever wheel-to-wheel circuit race. 3rd to finish was Georges Ramirez who came out of retirement to drive Tito Poch's #88 Miata (thanks to RomyD and Georges - Tito Poch must have enjoyed the day too, and he blessed us with his favorite racing weather all day - some dry races and some wet ones). Georges did not get any practice nor qualifying runs and started from the back of the grid, having to work his way up through the field. JoeyA, driving his rare NB Coupe, and with the aircon on, worked his way past both Joselu and Rene to finish 4th overall and first of the street class cars. Georges and Joey battled for 3rd place throughout most of the race, with Georges finishing just ahead of Joey. Joselu finished in 5th, driving well despite a problematic car - his throttle got stuck, sometimes wide open! It took some pretty skillful driving on Joselu's part to bring that car home in one piece and in 5th. Then came Romy David, finishing a solid 6th with his newly Motec-equipped car. 7th across the line, and 2nd in street class, Rene proved that he still has the skills for the track. Behind Rene, in 8th overall, came the Club President, Chito Santiago, placing 3rd in street class with his red stock NA. Hot on Chito's heels came Gino Reyes, bouncing down the final straight (gotta get fresh dampers Gino Wink)to take 9th overall and 4th in street class, also with his red NA stocker. In 10th overall, and 5th in street class came Mark Ablaza. Then the silver NA of Jojo Ozaeta crossed the line in 11th overall and 6th in street class. Norman Castillo, with his silver NA came in 12th overall, 7th in street class. Mike O'Pallick and his bright red NC was 13th overall and took the final point for 8th in street class - great to see Mike's brand new MX5 zoom-zooming on the track and Mike was all smiles after his first miata cup race. Race Director John Camus had engine problems, came into the pits a couple times to try to have his crew diagnose and fix the problem, but by the 10th lap he finally threw in the towel and pulled out of the race and into his paddock.
For race two, there was a long lull before my PTCC afternoon (race 3) race, and the skies opened up and rain started falling as the miatas went out to grid for race 2, so I grabbed a towel and ran to the top of the viewing containers to watch the second race. I love racing in the rain, and wanted to see first hand how everyone would do in these challenging conditions. The only other person who braved the rain to watch from up there was Billie, Rene Mapua's friend, so I tried to explain to her the nuances of circuit racing. During the formation lap, we were surprised to see Rene dive into pit lane... Billie turned to me to ask what might have gone wrong with Rene's car - the rain was getting stronger, so I told Billie "there's nothing wrong with Rene's car - he just made the wise decision to enter pit lane so that somebody could help him raise and fasten his soft top to prevent you having to sit on a soggy seat on the drive home!! Good man that Rene!".
So the whole field splished and splashed their way around the track on the warm up lap and onto the starting grid except for Rene, who had to start from pit lane after everyone had gotten off. From up on the containers, Billie and I watched as the red lights came on, the roar of revving miata engines filled the air, the lights turned green, and in the pelting rain, the cars charged off and disappeared from our view into turn one. This time Lance made a great start, as did Bubi and the rest of the guys... we waited and watched the exit of turn 3 to see who was in the lead - I heard tires screaching and Bubi came into view, but his car was pointing the wrong way having spun while entering the corner! Lance Binamira jinked to the right to try to avoid Bubi, who was still going backwards and there was some contact - Bubi lost his rear bumper and Lance had a dent on his left side. So Lance leads the pack into turn 4 and the rest follow him through the technical section that is turns 4,5,6,7 and exiting turn 8 onto the back straight and out of sight through the kink on their way to the hairpin. When Lance came back into view, braking hard for the final chicane, it became clear that JoeyA was closing the gap between them fast. Bubi got his car going again and had to work his way back up through all the other cars, driving gingerly in the very wet conditions, he chased hard all the way. Georges Ramirez, revelling in the wet conditions, passed car after car, working his way to the front - great to watch a real pro driving his heart out. Meanwhile, I was keeping my fingers crossed and hoping that the less experienced drivers would get through the race without incident. JoeyA caught and passed Lance within two laps, whatever tires Joey had on his white coupe, they were far superior in the wet to the spec tires on Lance's black miata... then Georges, also on non-spec neovas, easily passes Lance, who was also getting caught by Rene, also on neovas. Georges finally caught up with Joey and the two battled it out lap after lap - with Joey keeping Georges behind him even though he had several moments with the car totally sideways in the rain!! Meanwhile, Rene and Lance also fought it out for 3rd place, with Rene eventually passing Lance, who was struggling in the wet with the spec tires - great driving by those two. Joselu's bad luck continued into the 2nd race, and he retired after only 3 laps. Romy David overcooked it braking for the hairpin and he overshot into the bushes. Thankfully, Romy was alright, but because he was unable to get into the safety of the Marshal's station, the Clerk of Course called out the safety car and ordered all marshals to wave their yellow caution flags - Full Course Yellow conditions. I believe it was the right call, since conditions were deteriorating and safety is the number one priority. The race eventually finished under safety car conditions - with the following final order:
P1 Joey Almeda
P2 Georges Ramirez
P3 Rene Mapua
P4 Lance Binamira
P5 Bubi Camus
P6 John Camus
P7 Mark Ablaza
P8 Chito Santiago
P9 Jojo Ozaeta
P10 Gino Reyes
P11 Mike O'Pallick
P12 Norman Castillo
Mark Ablaza, driving superbly in the rain, came in 3rd in street class, Prez Chito splashed his way into 4th, with Jojo O, Gino R, Mike O'P, and finally Norman C... glad to see all the street guys crossing the line in one piece. Congrats on your first full-wet race in the rain guys!!
There were SO many members and their families/friends that drove up to Subic to be part of the opening rounds of this year's racing season. I was so happy to see so many miatas parading around the track, and never in my short history with the club have I seen 14 cars on the race grid - what a sight to behold. Up in the aircon VIP room, the lunch was great and everybody seemed to be eating their fill, with plenty food to go around. Race Director John Camus and President Chito Santiago are to be commended on a fantastic weekend of Miata Cup Races - and a big round of thanks to all the members and their families and friends who drove up from Manila. Thanks also to JoeyBer who organized the convoy of miatas early on Sunday morning for the drive to Subic. Mabuhay ang MCP!! MABUHAY ANG MIATA CUP!!!
Juny Binamira
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