Anton fires first salvo in Casino Filipino GP

Multi-titled Carlos Anton of the Red Horse Beer-Gulf Oil-MP Turbo racing team dominated both opening races of the touring car championship in the 2003 Casino Filipino Grand Prix at the Batangas Racing Circuit last weekend.

Firing the first salvo in the premier event, Anton lived up to his credentials by taking pole position Saturday and led from start to finish on both inaugural rounds. His wins looked easy from the grandstands but Anton had some problems enroute to his dream start of the season.

"We had some problems with overheating of our engine," said Baguio driver Anton after the race. "We had to build up a gap from the start and try to maintain it to the end. Luckily, we were able to maintain the gap and cruise to the finish. This has been our best weekend for a long, long time."

With Anton’s stunning wins, the team put up by Red Horse Beer, the country’s world-class, full-taste, lager beer, lubricant specialist Gulf Oil, and MP Turbo, has been branded as the team to beat in the coming races. The team is ably supported by Universal Motors Corp. with Nissan Frontier pickups, ROTA Wheels, YEHEY.com, EBC Brakes, Pagcor Sports, ATI Diesel and BLTB.

Red Horse-Gulf Oil-MP Turbo’s production class driver Mike Francisco also gave impressive performances with second and third places in both races. Missing action for two years, Francisco adapted immediately to the demands of production racing and led the first race till a miscue near the end.

Francisco said after: "My car handled well and braked superbly for the first race. We climbed from 3rd in the class to 1st in five laps. We were very happy to move so high in such a short time. However, in the closing laps, my teammate Anton was about to lap us when Erick Tanael slipped through the gap after moving aside for Anton. It was a lesson learned and we’ll do better next time."

The afternoon race, though, didn’t go the same way when his car suffered from a broken front suspension bushing and didn’t handle as good as the first run. Oscar Aguilar of Caltex team took 1st in the afternoon race, with Intelco’s Erick Tanael taking first overall in the morning’s first race.

MP Turbo’s privateer drivers Dominique Bon, Alex Padua and John Sambo had fairly successful outings for the first weekend. Expat Bon suffered from electrical problems in the first race but took top awards in the Division 2 for Class B drivers and 4th overall.

Production driver Padua took impressive finishes with 2nd and 3rd in class C with Sambo nursing a sick car to finish 3rd and 4th.

The next races will be on May 17-18. They will be shown in SPEED at ABC Channel 5 (aired every Sunday, 11pm) starting April 27.