Torres within reach of Yokohama GT plum

MANILA, Philippines - Frontrunning Willie Torres of W Autosport Racing scored another sweep that moved him closer to the crown in the fifth leg of the 2015 Yokohama Philippine Grand Touring Car Series recently at the Batangas Racing Circuit.

With defending champion Dondon Portugal missing action again, Torres enjoyed a smooth, pressure-free run as he went almost full-throttle all the way, hitting a fast laptime of 1:51.969 to capture the  GT300 crown in both the sprint and GT main race.

The  event is sanctioned by the Automobile Association Philippines (AAP) and sponsored by Yokohama (the official tires) and Sparco. The victory gave him 230 points for a solid lead in the GT300 class.

For the overall Yokohama GT Driver of the Year plum, he had 140 points to  trail Richmond dela  Rosa (151), who swept both sprint and GT main races in the GT200 division where defending champion Paolo Mantolino suffered transmission problems just before the sprint race started.

Later in the afternoon’s GT main race, Mantolino busted his engine, which even spewed smoke on the fourth lap and forced his early exit. 

Also pulling off their respective sweeps were Patrick dela Rosa over NR Joaquin in the GT150 class and Ivan Diaz over Joginder King Sin in the GT100 division.