Owned by David Lim of Cebu City, the Evolution IV was modified by ATI Racing and piloted by its ace driver, Dondi Montecillo. "The engine performed flawlessly. Our next goal is to hit low 10’s and possibly, hit the nine second barrier," says Montecillo.
The EVO IV’s time of 10.7 seconds at 129.3 mph made it the country’s fastest Lancer Evolution. "The previous record was a 10.9 seconds time slip. The feat of Montecillo is two seconds faster, and a second away from the fastest car in the Philippines which is 10.6 seconds," reveals Fil Gulfin, head of drag racing operations for the Automobile Association of the Philippines (AAP). ATI Racing swept the Quick 8 category, placing the team within an earshot of this year’s Team Championship. "We are happy with the outcome. Our efforts spent at fine tuning the car was time well spent," says Butch Inducil, President of ATI Group.
Other big winners during the Shell-Prospeed finals were Ace Vergel of MSF Autoworks who blasted the turbo powered Celeste of San Jacinto Racing in the Pro Class A category. On board a white Lancer Evolution VII, Vergel clocked a time of 12.5 seconds on the race track. The Pro Class B category was dominated by Morris Miranda of San Jacinto Racing, who handed down the defeat to Peng Diaz of Tony Llames Racing. The Pro Class C and D were won by Michael Galos and Joseph de Dios of MSF Autoworks respectively.
The Quartermile Finals saw the participation of 88 cars from different drag teams all over the country. The championship leg of Shell-Prospeed Championship Drag Racing is sponsored by Shell, Shell Helix, ATI Group, Professional Race Organizers, Eibach, ZF, Nodalos Performance Exhausts, Fremuff, DGL Trucks and the Clark Development Corporation.