Tiu resets nat’l drag racing mark

MANILA, Philippines - Jonathan Tiu reset the national mark in drag racing, turning in an 8.806-second clocking in the second leg of the 2014 Petronas Philippine Drag Racing Championship Northern Series at the Clark International Speedway in Pampanga recently.

Aboard his new Nissan R35, the JCT-Blanche Racing mainstay posted an all-time fastest clocking to capture the Quick 8 crown of the event which served as part of the 2014 Petronas Motorsports Championship Season sanctioned by the Automobile Association Philippines and sponsored by Petronas, M&H Tires and media partner Racing Beat at Wave 89.1.

The event was held side-by-side with the first-ever Clark International Motorshow, which featured vintage cars, technologically-engineered and artistically-redesigned four-wheel luxury and monster vehicles as well as innovative car parts, accessories and car care products.

It was Tiu’s third straight triumph this season after ruling the Northern Series opener and posting a record-breaking feat in the Southern Series kickoff where he clocked a new BRC track record of 9.091 seconds. He also hinted at shattering the national record to an eight-second mark after posting 8.957 seconds in his third run.

Tiu also steered JCT-Blanche Racing to another sweep in the Quick 8 division with Rommel Dural and Sheldon Chua claiming the runner-up and third place honors, respectively.

For his feat, Tiu received a special plaque of recognition in yesterday’s 11th Golden Wheel Awards Night at the Samsung Hall of SM Aura in Taguig City.

“This is a big development for Philippine drag racing as this challenges other drivers to level up their game and keep up a competitive time with the goal of breaking Tiu’s supremacy,” said Drag Racing director Fil Gulfin.

But Tiu failed to post a double victory as he closed out his campaign with a breakout on his semifinal run where clocked 8.82 seconds in the Super Pro race.

Dural took the crown in 10.88 seconds, beating Danes Sarmiento of H3 Autoworks, who timed 11.239 seconds.

The premiere Pro class saw John Rizya of AHRA-Garage Power clinch the crown aboard his American muscle car, a classic Camaro named Thunder that posted a fast 11.041 seconds in the final encounter against runner-up Aaron Lao, who finished second behind with 12.074 while Jackson Go of H3 Autoworks took third place with a time of 11.956 seconds.

Drag racing, meanwhile, goes back to Batangas for the second leg of the 2014 Petronas Philippine Drag Racing Championship Southern Series at the Batangas Racing Circuit Drag Strip.

For details, call the Batangas Racing Circuit c/o Nelson Gayola or Rodini Rivera at (632) 729-72 41-42, 729-5365 or fax 844-7766, 0922 8858410 or like us on www.facebook.com/ Batangas Racing Circuit or check out our website www.batangasracingcircuit.org.