Bautista dominates day of touring cars

ROSARIO, BATANGAS, Philippines  –  Brian Bautista hung tough in the tightly contested dash to the finish in the final lap to rule the first TRS Retro Touring Car recently at the Batangas Racing Circuit.

The first Retro Touring Car Philippines concocted a nostalgic atmosphere that gave the huge crowd a feeling of being time-warped back to the 60’s, 70’s and 80’s watching 29 classic cars like Mini-Coopers, Volkswagen Beetles, Toyota Starlets, Ford Escorts and other old school cars.

The event was powered by Castrol, Bridgestone, Standard Insurance, Coke Zero, OMP, AAP, Ford Alabang, Emotions, Speedlab, Aguila Auto Glass, Lifeline Ambulance, PLDT Fibr, C! Magazine,Kotse.com, HasTRavel, Stoplight TV and Business World.

Fans, who were guessing which of the classic cars would prevail, got more than they expected as drivers struggled to get out of the traffic to gain better positions, resulting in some funny moments and intense action going into the final two laps.

Race One witnessed the grueling showdown between Bautista, driving a Volkswagen, and Albert Quiroz on a Lancer box-type. Quiroz topped the time trials to claim the pole position for Race 1 but Bautista put up a gallant fight as he moved side by side with the former throughout the six-lap race

However, Quiroz uncorked a decisive move on the final lap to pull ahead and win Race 1.

While the duel between Quiroz and Bautista is expected to brew hotter, Carlos Castaneda with his Mini-Cooper and Raymond Bayer aboard a Volkswagen made it a four-way battle that got the eyes of the crowd glued closely in Race 2.

Castaneda and Bayer moved up to second and third behind Bautista as Quiroz slipped to fourth following a bad start.  Quiroz quickly joined the three-man lead pack, grabbed third place from Bayer and later moved up to second behind Bautista.

Quiroz forced a move to wrest the lead from Bautista but it backfired as he went off the track at the Casino Filipino bend.  He got back immediately to third place but Bautista was already far ahead to be denied of Overall crown.

Quiroz snatched second place from Castaneda but on the final lap lost 2nd place while running through the backmarkers. Castaneda finished the nerve wracking Race 2 in 2nd overall while Quiroz settled for 3rd.

Bautista also bagged the crown in the Volkswagen Class A over Bayer and Arvir Gervacio while Castaneda bagged the Mini-Cooper plum over runner-up Rueven Locson and Jun Mallari.

Quiroz emerged champion in the Old School category over Runner-up Danby Yaptinchay in his Toyota Celica and Ferdie Sia aboard his Toyota Sprinter.

For more information, contact Tuason Racing School c/o Aileen Urgelles at 820-4203, email TRS at [email protected] or visit www.tuasonracing.com <http://www.tuasonracing.com/>  <http://www.tuasonracing.com/ <http://www.tuasonracing.com/> > ; like Tuason Racing School on Facebook for more details.