RP touring car crown in the bag for Coseteng

ROSARIO, BATANGAS — It’s all in the bag for Caltex Havoline-Autoplus-Red Horse lead driver Jody Coseteng.

Coseteng made a big comeback, pulling the most important sweep of Round 9 and 10 to virtually assure himself of the Philippine National Touring Car Championship plum yesterday at the Batangas Racing Circuit.

And all that’s left undone in this event sponsored by the Batangas Racing Circuit Association (BRCA) Board of Governors, Pilipinas Shell, Toyota Motors Phil., Casino Filipino, MOF Shipping, Norkis-Yamaha, Marlboro, and Kilton Motors Corporation is the formal awarding of the championship trophy to Coseteng.

"This sweep more than made up for the past four setbacks," said Coseteng who tried to keep his usual composure after the stirring feat.

"This victory is probably the most colorful in my racing career. The team was haunted by unexpected turn of events but fortunately, the season concluded on a happy ending. I thank my sponsors Caltex, Autoplus and Red Horse for their continuous support and trust," he added.

With the win, Coseteng now amassed total of 132 points in this event sanctioned by the Automobile Association of the Philippines (AAP).

Fujitsu-Tom’s-Shell Racing’s Jojo Silverio finished second in both rounds and moved up second overall with 85 points while teammate Vincent Floirendo is third with 82.

Silverio gave Coseteng a tough fight in the first race, challenging the latter in a neck-to-neck battle in the first six laps.

But Coseteng managed to break away as he jacked up with the fastest laptime of 1:49.714 on the eighth lap and finished the 15-lap race in 34:29.479 or 5.203 seconds ahead of Silverio.

The heavy afternoon rains even worked to Coseteng’s advantage as the Caltex Havoline-Autoplus-Red Horse driver pulled ahead by a wide margin midway the race.

Floirendo took third place in Race 9 while Coseteng’s teammate Nilo Pazcoguin snatched third place in Race 10 after Floirendo’s misfortune.

Erick Tanael followed Coseteng’s footsteps with a sweep of the production class over Dickies-MP Turbo’s Johnny Sambo.