Coseteng sweeps 3rd leg

ROSARIO, Batangas — Defending champion Jody Coseteng of San Miguel Beer lived up to his promise when he swept both races Sunday in the third leg of the 2005 Petron National Touring Car Championship at the Batangas Racing Circuit.

Coseteng pulled away early from the pack as he finished the 12-lap morning race in 33:24.669. He later completed his sweep with a fastest laptime of 1:54.744 and a better total time of 27:30.235 in the afternoon race.

He hiked his total to 87 points, bolstering his bid for a fourth straight crown in this event sanctioned by the Automobile Association of the Philippines and sponsored by Petron Ultron, Toyota Motors Phils., Norkis Yamaha, Kilton Motors, Denso, MOF Co. and Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corp.

However, much of the attention was on Philip Alvendia of the A3 Motorsports-Malayan Automaster National Touring Team who unveiled amazing runner-up finishes despite racing for the first time in this year’s series.

Alvendia started third but jacked up with a fastest laptime of 1:55.030 on the ninth lap to overtake then second running Dominic Bon and came quite close to Coseteng, finishing the first race just 0.646 seconds behind.

He slipped to fourth in the early goings of the afternoon race but rallied his way up, passing on Oscar Aguilar midway and took a decisive dive on Bon at the first turn of the final lap to claim the runner-up place anew just 0.547 seconds behind Coseteng.

Bong and Aguilar ended third and fourth respectively in both races.