MANILA, Philippines - Coming from a successful debut last year, Motor Image Pilipinas will once again hold the Manila leg of Singapore’s highly-celebrated survivor competition, the Subaru Impreza Challenge on September 12 and 13 at the Bonifacio High Street in Taguig City. The Subaru Impreza Challenge is an endurance competition requiring participants to place their palm on a specific area on the car. The last person standing wins the competition and gets a chance to compete for the ultimate prize of a brand-new Subaru Impreza WRX worth P1.698 million.
The Subaru Impreza Challenge was started by Motor Image Enterprises in Singapore in 2002 where contestants gear up to battle the harsh weather elements and body fatigue in their ultimate goal of winning a brand-new Subaru Impreza. With their right palms firmly placed on the palm decals located strategically on the Subaru Impeza cars, hundreds of contestants embarked on their endurance journey where they were only allowed a 5-minute break once every 6 hours. In 2008, a new record of 81 hours and 32 minutes was set by the winner George Lee from Singapore who beat 399 other participants including ten Filipino representatives who qualified in the 2008 Manila leg. The last Filipino survivor in the competition lasted 62 hours and 53 minutes.
The Manila qualifier event will be will be held at the Bonifacio High Street on September 12 to 13 and hundreds of participants are expected to sign-up for this one-of-a-kind competition. The top ten qualifiers of the challenge will be flown to an all-expenses paid trip to Singapore where they will compete with the winners from other Asian countries and have the chance to win a brand-new Subaru Impreza WRX 2.5 Turbo.
The conditions are expected to be tougher this year with the adoption of the same rules and regulations used in the Regional Face Off event. Apart from not being allowed to eat or drink during the challenge, and using only their right palms, contestants will be disqualified (after three warnings), if they flouted any rules. These included not being allowed to have any accessories, like sunglasses, hats, sweatbands nor any change of apparel or footwear during the Challenge. During their five-minute breaks given every six (6) hours, contestants can use this to go to the toilet, rest and recharge with food, drinks or even a massage.
Interested participants must be at least 21 years old as of January 1, 2009, a Filipino passport holder and in good health condition. The registration for the Subaru Impreza Challenge will run from July 1 to August 31 at the Subaru Greenhills Showroom in EDSA. For more details on the event, interested participants can check online at www.imprezachallengemanila.com or call the Motor Image office at 727-8333 at 727-3687.