MANILA, Philippines - Multi-titled champion Jody Coseteng proved he hasn’t lost his touch despite his age and a two-year hiatus following his big victory in the kickoff of the 2012 Yokohama Philippine GT Championship Series recently at the Batangas Racing Circuit.
It was a big comeback for Coseteng who went through a tough encounter with defending champion and Golden Wheel Driver of the Year Vincent Floirendo nearly throughout the final race before capturing the GT300 crown of this event sanctioned by the Automobile Association Philippines and sponsored by official tires Yokohama, official oil Torco racing oil and Racing Beat@Wave 89.1.
Everybody thought Floirendo would sweep the kickoff leg after ruling the sprint race over four-time karting champ Stefano Marcelo of Marcelo Racing and third placer VM Kaikkonen of Hafele-Tuason Racing while Coseteng only finished sixth overall.
Starting from the back of the reverse grid order, Floirendo went full throttle to get into the main pack. Soon enough, he found himself behind Coseteng and even came closest just 0.2 of a second behind.
However, the reigning champ failed to sustain his pace in the final two laps as Coseteng zoomed ahead to claim the checkered flag. He completed 15 laps of racing in 27 minutes, 4.565 seconds or 30.909 seconds ahead of Floirendo (second).