Gaby to beat the odds again

MANILA, Philippines - Long before she was dubbed as Pinoy Big Brother Celebrity Edition 2’s Racing Goddess, Gaby dela Merced has been slowly making waves in both local and international racing circuits.

After scoring class wins in Shell Slalom Series from 2000-2002, Gaby proceeded to race and win the Philippine Formula Toyota and touring car championships. She also completed most of the 2004 season in Formula BMW Asia as one of its Scholarship Drivers. In March 2006, she joined the Asian Formula 3 Series, making her the first female driver in the region’s premier Formula Racing Series.

Gaby’s star shone even brighter when she was chosen to be one of the housemates in the celebrity edition of the local franchise of Big Brother. Through the said reality show, Gaby hoped to catch the attention of potential sponsors who could help finance her races.

Because of her passion and love for racing and her dogged determination to become better at it, she not only got the nods of potential sponsors — she won the hearts of the viewers as well.

Arguably one of Gaby’s best moments on PBB is when she was taken out of the house to join a race in Subic where she won even without any practice and barely enough sleep the night before.

She let go of her chance to become PBB’s Celebrity Big Winner when she voluntarily exited the big yellow house to attend the Lyn St. James’ Women in the Winner’s Circle Foundation’s 2007-2008 Driver Development Program in Arizona. With the voluntary exit of two other housemates, Big Brother invited Gaby to return to his house two weeks after her training abroad. She became the Celebrity Third Big Placer at the end of the season.

After her PBB stint, ABS-CBN gave her Gaby’s Xtraordinary Files where she was able to showcase her hosting skills. She also became one of Studio 23’s VJs.

Showbiz may be tempting but racing remains to be Gaby’s first love. In December 2008, she, along with her teammates Robbie Montinola and Angelo Barretto from the Team Castrol-Speed Trapp Racing, completed the NASA 25 Hours of Thunderhill race. 

The Thunderhill race held at the Thunderhill Raceway Park in the San Francisco Bay Area is the longest race in North America. Of the 68 racecars which competed, Gaby’s team landed a Sixth-Place finish in class and a 12th-place finish overall.

Last March 16, Gaby went to San Francisco to test with Spoon Sports.

The two-day tryout was held last March 21 and 22 at the Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, where Gaby drove the TSX Spoon racecar. Opak Racing, Spoon Sports US counterpart, was satisfied with her performance and signed her up in their team.

Gaby adds, “It would really be a challenge as my team would be up against equally-skilled, but more experienced drivers who are more familiar with the racetrack. Plus I’d have to get used to driving a right-hand drive car for the race... but it’s ok. I want to make the Philippines proud. I’m going to do this. I’m going to be successful!”

Gaby dela Merced is represented by Girlie Rodis of Global Resource Creative Exchange and may be contacted at 722-8847 or 722-7223.