Top race car driver killed in ambush

MANILA, Philippines - Champion race car driver Ferdinand “Enzo” Pastor was killed in what appeared to be an ambush in Quezon City late Thursday.

Pastor, 32, was driving a truck when the gunman on a motorcycle stopped alongside and shot the victim repeatedly at close range.

Paolo Salazar, the victim’s assistant, was hit in the abdomen but survived.

Pastor and Salazar were on their way to Clark, Pampanga when the shooting occurred at the intersection of Visayas and Congressional avenues.

Salazar said he was not able to recognize the gunman since he was preoccupied with checking the race car on the back platform of the van. He said he was caught by surprise by the attack.

Chief Inspector Rodel Marcelo, head of the Quezon City Police District-Criminal Investigation and Detection Unit, said the gunman appeared on the driver’s side of the van and shot Pastor repeatedly with a .45 automatic.

Investigators added the gunman was riding a motorcycle with no license plates.

Police investigators are looking into the possibility that the attack could have been related to his career as a race car driver.

Pastor was the first Filipino to participate in the NASCAR Whelen Euroseries Open Championship race circuit.

At the time of the ambush, he was going to Clark to prepare for the final leg of the 2014 Asian V8 Championship Series.

The family told police investigators that Pastor had no known enemies and did not receive death threats before he was killed.

Pastor’s passion for racing was so intense that until the end, he wanted to be with his race car.

One of his friends revealed the slain champion racer wanted his ashes put in the engine of one of his racing cars.

“He wanted his remains to be cremated and he wanted part of the ashes put in the engine,” said Marc Thomann, Pastor’s friend and race engineer.

Thomann spoke in an interview for the family of the slain racer. He said everyone was surprised. -Janvic Mateo