Easy, Enzo

Following the gold medal efforts of Mikee Cojuangco, Francisco "Django" Bustamante, Antonio Lining, Paeng Nipomuceno and RJ Bautista in the Busan GamAsian s, Filipino sports fans have something new to cheer about as Enzo Pastor last week made Philippine motor racing history by becoming the Asian Formula Renault 2002 champion and the first Filipino to ever win a major international motor racing series in decades.

Formula Racing Development, Ltd. (FRD), the Hong Kong-based organizers of the Asian Formula Renault 2002 Series, confirmed in a telephone call to Pastor by its president, Kenneth Ma, that the 20-year old Filipino had officially clinched the title after FRD decided to cancel the final leg of the championship which was scheduled to run alongside the Asian Formula Challenge this Sunday at the Subic International Raceway.

According to Ma, the decision was made in order to allow some of the top competitors in the Asian Formula Renault Series to prepare for the Macau Grand Prix on Nov. 27.

"The FRD received confirmation from the organizers of this year’s Macau Grand Prix that they would be holding a Formula Renault race. This prompted us to forego the final two rounds in Subic Bay in order to give our drivers a chance to participate. As you know, the Macau Grand Prix is the oldest and most prestigious single race in Asia and it would be a shame if they were deprived of the opportunity to be part of it," Ma stated.

Pastor established a 22-point margin going into Subic over his closest rival, Franky Cheng of China, after scoring back-to-back wins in the last two races at the Johor Circuit in Malaysia. All he needed was to finish no lower than third in the final two rounds to clinch the title.

The development, however, made things moot and academic for Pastor who ended up with the most number of points in the 12-race series, which was run in China, Malaysia and the Philippines.

"Of course, I would have wanted to win the title on the track and in my home country. Although I will also be racing in Subic on an F3 car to test for next year’s season along with our seasoned drivers in F3. However, winning the first ever international motor racing championship for the Philippines is very nice," said Pastor, who is sponsored by New Pagcor, Casino Filipino, Department of Tourism, Philippine Tourism Authority, SBMA, Red Horse Beer, FedEx, Nextel, PLDT, Swatch, Petron, and the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office.

Pastor is currently preparing to race in Macau, where he will be carrying the Philippines’ hopes and dreams anew against the best Formula Renault drivers in the world.

He will attempt to be the first Filipino to win in Macau since the late Arsenio "Dodjie" Laurel did in 1966.