C! Magazine wins Round 3 of Honda Media Challenge

It’s always a tightly competitive race when there are three different winners over three rounds of racing. And tightly competitive racing is precisely what is happening at the 2003 edition of the annual Honda Civic Media Challenge, a time trial motorsports event held alternatively on dirt and tarmac courses using identically prepared 130-hp Honda Civic 1.6 VTis.

The first round held last April at a dirt track at the CCP grounds saw former champion Manila Bulletin grab the honors with perennial top driver Anjo Perez leading teammates Aris Ilagan, Bernard de Lara and Motoring Editor Pinky Colmenares to the top of the podium. Second and third were The Philippine STAR and C! Magazine/Auto Extreme teams, respectively.

The second round last May was held at a tarmac course fronting the Quirino grandstand in Luneta. This time, the top two finishers of the first round were reversed in order, with pavement specialists Andy Leuterio, Brian Afuang, Lester Dizon and this writer combining to take the top spot over Manila Bulletin and tying the first round winners for the overall position with 57 points each. Although MB’s Anjo Perez again posted the fastest time of day, The Philippine STAR’s Leuterio and this writer responded by posting the third and second fastest times, respectively. Team C! Magazine/Auto Extreme, with Kenny Quintal, James Deakin, Kevin Limjoco and Ardie Lopez, again placed third for a total of 48 points.

The third round was held last Saturday, June 21, again at the CCP dirt track. Third round, third different winner. C! Magazine/Auto Extreme finally proved their mettle with a decisive victory in a deceptively tricky dirt track. A full 30 points put them solidly in the hunt for overall honors.

Equally noteworthy, however, was The Philippine STAR’s 2nd placed finish over Manila Bulletin, which had to settle for third. This result put the STAR team, bannered in the third round by the superb performances of Brian Afuang and Lester Dizon, in the overall lead for the first time with 93 points, followed by Bulletin with 90, and C! Magazine/Auto Extreme with 87 points.

The remaining top 10 ten teams of the 14 total media teams are DRP/K-Lite/Today (69 points); Motoring Today and Business World (48 points each); DZRH (45 points); ABS-CBN/DZMM (33); Auto Review (25) and AP/Drive/Gadgets (23).

In the sponsor’s competition, Junichi Sato was fastest of the day (fifth overall) to lead Team Honda 1 to its first win. Sato was ably supported by Gabby Peren who was second-fastest among participants from sponsor teams. Third fastest was Arnel Doria to help Team Honda 2 salvage second place in the team competition. Team Caltex was hampered by no-shows and finished third.

The 2003 Civic Media Challenge is organized by ADBM Resources in partnership with Activity Asia Association and Roadwise Motoring School and is sponsored by Caltex Havoline, Michelin, the official tire supplier thru its Philippine distributor Tiara Commercial & Industrial Corporation; Nodalos Trading, and Aitech.

The last round of the 2003 Civic Media will be held in a tarmac course at the Quirino Grandstand in Luneta on July 19, 2003.