MANILA, Philippines - The Zebra Racing Team put up a strong fight against the more-experienced Japanese rivals behind South Korean Sung Joon “SJ†Park and Filipino driver Jeremy San Diego recently in the fourth leg of the Winds Formula Philippines at the Batangas Racing Circuit.
Park bagged overall third place while San Diego, despite figuring in several mishaps, completed the podium cast with his fifth place finish for the Zebra Racing Team powered by Winds Formula Philippines, Fastem, Petronas Lubricants Philippines, Monster Energy Philippines, C! Magazine, Kotse.com, AutoIndustrya.com, Pinoy Loves Wheels, Team A, Ozawa JDM, Rally Parts, Chi Shirts and Anime Sky.
Notwithstanding the ordeals he had to go through, the lone Filipino entry posted the fastest laptime of 2:00.825 on the rain-drenched track to the amazement of his Japanese rivals.
Park qualified fourth on the grid but his determination and consistent driving gave the Japanese some jitters when he moved up second on the fourth lap. As the South Korean throttled at the exit of the fourth corner, his car ran over a stream of water which caused his car to spin. Narrowly avoiding the steel barriers, Park was able to keep the car on track and ended third in the 10-lap race.
San Diego seemed headed for a big finish as he clocked the second best time of 1:59.076 but a series of unfortunate events spoiled it all.
His car got stalled at the start and though he later got his engine roaring, a slightly damaged shifter caused him to miss third gear right before the third corner and almost threw himself onto the gravel traps. Keeping the engine revving and in gear, he managed to extract himself from the run-off area to rejoin the race, hot on the tail of the rest of the pack.