Ramirez remains at helm in PTCC

SUBIC– Kookie Ramirez of Petron-SRA won two of the three races in the rain in the recent  third leg of the 2008 Philippine Touring Car Championship, organized by the Automobile Association of the Philippines (AAP) at the Subic International Raceway here.

His feat firmed up his solo lead in the Group 1 division of this event held in cooperation with marketing and media partner Race Fans Inc. and sponsored by SEAOIL, Federal Tires, JVC, Nissan Grand Livina and Motolite.

Defending champion Jody Coseteng of San Mig Coffee-Magnolia pulled a wire-to-wire triumph in the morning race but Ramirez staged a surprise comeback in Race 2 where he slipped past the reigning champ on the second lap and held his post all the way to the finish line.

In the final race, Coseteng set the pace in the first two laps but Ramirez wrested the lead on the third lap and pulled away for good.

 Celebrity driver Gaby de la Merced of Big Shot Racing bagged third place in the first two races while Dennis Uy of SEAOIL-Velocity Motors took third place in the final race.

“It feels great that all the hard work and efforts translated into big results for us, and we’re happy things are working well for the team so far this season with the big support of our sponsors, mechanics and the crew,” said Ramirez.

The Group 3 encounters, on the other hand, came out even more exciting with Stuart MacDonald of Ford-Tuason Racing, Dominic Uy of Mighty Sports-Valvoline-Velocity Motors and Doby Atilano of Howroyd and Benjamin Racing winning separate races.

 MacDonald, a British expat, grabbed the lead and pulled away from the pack to rule the first race over Ford-Tuason Racing teammate Mike Tuason and Joward Policarpio of Kotse Network-Mark Young Racing.

Uy won the second race with Ramil Madriaga and Jeff Borja of P1 Engineering as runner-up and third placer, respectively, following the disqualification of Atilano, Dominic Samson, Mike Tuason and MacDonald for overtaking the pace car under yellow flag conditions.