Subaru Society-Castrol Team secures 1-2 victory and crowned STV Auto Rally Overall Champion

MANILA, Philippines - Subaru Society-Castrol Team recently concluded the 2011 STV Auto Rally having placed 1st and 2nd, and eventually named overall champion. Having fielded in 4 cars for the competition, the team was able to record the best time to secure the championship. The Subaru Society-Castrol Team was the official representative of Motor Image Pilipinas, the official distributor of Subaru in the country.

Team Subaru Society-Castrol fielded a total entry of four vehicles led by its Team Captain Eric Valera, Maochi Aurelio, and Jic Valera in their Subaru Legacy. Joining them in the team are Raffy David, Juny Binamira, and Chez Gokingyok in an Impreza STI. Last year’s “Tandem Champions” Elbert Cuenca and Raul Ylanan were joined by Nino Pasamonte in the Forester 2.5 Turbo, and Monch Gupit, Carlo Villanueva and Jan Gomez were in a Subaru Tribeca.

The team of Valera, Aurelio and Valera was crowned as overall champion for this year’s event, besting the other field of competitors composed of rally veterans and prominent members of the motoring media driving for automotive brands. Complementing their strong finish was the trio of David, Binamira and Gokingyok who won the second best overall finish, clinching the 2011 team championship for Team Subaru Society-Castrol.

The STV Auto Rally, which is also popularly known as the “Sampaguita Rally” is a race event where the participants are required to be “on time, all the time”. Checkpoints are located throughout the course of the race where the competitors are required stop and record their time for each sector. One penalty point is given for every second above or below the prescribed time for each particular checkpoint. The team with the least penalty points is declared winner.

This year’s STV Auto Rally was held last March 5 at Subic Bay where participants flagged off at the Subic International Airport. Six checkpoints were situated at different locations of the Freeport where the competitors were required to fill in their time.

Aside from the “Individual” and “Overall” Championship, checkpoint awards were also given to those having the most precise time for each sector where Team Subaru won 5 of the 6 checkpoints in the rally, which contributed to the team’s victory.

The success of Team Subaru is the result of the combined efforts of Subaru Society, Castrol Philippines, and Motor Image Pilipinas.