Getting to know your car (and yourself) through the STV Auto Rally Corporate Challenge

MANILA, Philippines - We seem to associate car competitions with races.  When I told my friends that I was joining the STV Auto Rally Corporate Challenge (ARCC), most of them were surprised that I was into “racing” or driving fast. 

Growing up with parents who are both lawyers (and ending up in the same profession) trained me to behave cautiously, thoughtfully and judiciously by default—especially for acts which result in serious consequences like driving (law students read so many criminal/civil cases on reckless driving which result in damage to property or accidental homicide). It must have been difficult for my friends to imagine me speeding in a car, in our outside a racetrack.  I would argue, however, that speeding in a regulated auto race is far from driving recklessly—it requires a lot of discipline and thoughtfulness. But the ARCC is more than about speed. It is about driving strategically, navigating without a map, and carefully measuring distance, time, and speed.  It requires you to use and understand your car better—its engine response, its odometer, timer, among other things.

I joined the ARCC for the first time last year upon the invitation of Toyota Motor Philippines. As an ARCC rookie, Toyota tried to make me feel at ease and not pressured by telling me that Toyota has never won in the ARCC before.  Unfortunately, I have always been inherently competitive and one of my guiding principles in life is: if I decide to do something, I have to do it well. 

I quickly studied the object and rules of ARCC and found that it was not about being the fastest car, or getting to the finish line first. ARCC was about clocking in at each non-disclosed station at the perfect time based on a prescribed speed at a specific distance. This required a team of three with a driver, a timekeeper and a navigator.  I was tasked to be the team’s timekeeper, a role which required some math skills. I studied and memorized the formula to compute the prescribed speed and time for each destination’s distance. Miguel Ortilla (a news reporter at Solar News Channel) and Jeff Yulde (a corporate officer in Solar News Channel) were the driver and navigator, respectively. I pity the men who were drafted in my team because they were clueless about my competitive streak…or perhaps I should have pitied myself for not telling them how competitive I was. We got so lost during the first leg that by the time we reached the finish line, most of the other teams were already eating lunch. It was at that point that Jeff asked why we made him navigator since his wife doesn’t even rely on him for directions. Epic fail! Nonetheless, my teammates and I bonded at the ARCC. During the second leg, I took on the task of being both navigator and timekeeper while Jeff happily ate potato chips at the back of the car while watching the scenery. 

When Toyota asked me to join ARCC again this year, they gave me the freedom to assemble my own team. With my competitive spirit undiminished, I was almost tempted to hold an audition for prospective team members (I was already imagining simulated navigation and reflex tests). In the end, I drafted my husband Evan McBride as timekeeper (for being a private equity/investment banker with excellent math skills), and Chris Dizon as driver (for being a car enthusiast who does regular driving “runs” as a hobby). 

Once again our team manager (Toyota’s PR Jade Sison) reminded me that there was no pressure for Team Toyota to win, but this time I was blessed with equally competitive and inherently skilled teammates. Without prior practice or meetings (and with very little sleep for being swamped with work the night before), we instantly fit into our roles on the day of the ARCC. We forgot to bring a calculator and stopwatch (which were allowed, while mobile phones were prohibited), but Evan was able to mentally compute prescribed speeds and target times for each “tulip” (tulip is the point-to-point destination and somewhere in between all the tulips, clock-in stations may randomly be found). Chris drove our Toyota Vios like a pro, adjusting the speed when necessary to stay within the prescribed time or to make up for lost time. And I—let’s just say as navigator we didn’t get lost at any point. 

One thing I love about ARCC is that it is like a track out of a computer game (I have always loved playing computer-simulated car races). We were driving through scenic back roads of Tagaytay, and facing unpredicted obstacles along the way.  During the first leg, a huge cola truck appeared out of nowhere forcing us to run at a snail-pace well below our target speed. Pedestrians, motorcycles and cars appeared before us randomly, as if programmed to make the track more difficult. At some point, heavy rain poured blurring visibility and causing huge puddles of water to develop. 

The rules of ARCC will make you test the accuracy of your car’s odometer, the power of its engine, the convenience and sensibility of the car’s interface (which I find are the practical aspects of a car’s features, especially in urban Manila where heavy traffic restricts the ability to speed anyway). ARCC also allowed me to discover that the Toyota Vios (the car we drove) could withstand rough roads and less ideal weather conditions. It also made me know myself better—at one point I told Chris (as he was speeding through narrow sharp turns and/or puddles of water) that I valued our lives more than winning. 

In the end, my selection of teammates based on theoretical skills assessment proved to be a good substitute for auditions. Team Toyota (for the first time in its ARCC history) won 1st Place in the second leg, and 1st Runner-Up in the overall competition. I think we had a good chance of winning in the first leg, had we not missed registering at the sixth clock-in station, causing huge points demerit. To this day, I’m convinced that the sixth station was hidden under the guise of a Tagaytay fruit stand. (It was actually on the main road on the stretch between the Sky Ranch Ferris Wheel and the fruit stands. It did look like one of those real estate tents with sales agents who give away flyers. – Motoring Ed. Manny of Team Lexus) 

To anyone who wants to test their car’s functionality and accuracy apart from speed (speed comes in handy when you try to make up for time lost crawling behind a truck), I encourage you to try the ARCC. You will end up getting to know your car and yourself better.

See more STV ARCC results in Butch Gamboa’s Motoring Today column on page C-3. - Ed.