Now on its 9th edition, the Petron 8 Oras ng Pilipinas continues to be the premier and biggest endurance race in the country, as the event registered a record-breaking 32 teams with 122 drivers competing for the ultimate challenge of the last car standing at the Clark International Speedway.
The car No. 4 of SmartFuel2sRace Honda Civic EG qualified on pole with a 2:10.930 time set by Trent Grubel, besting the rest of the field by more than a full second.
A battle immediately brewed between car No. 2 of Team Helix Ultra Honda Civic FD and car No. 24 of H Racing Honda, and last year’s winner the car No. 1 Tuason Racing Formula V1 took the lead in the opening hour.
A total of six female drivers took part in the Philippine Endurance Challenge (PEC). Emily Duggan from Australia and celebrity racer Gaby Dela Merced were back again behind the wheel. Then there was the all-female entry of Team Helix Ultra 3 with Aira Medrano, Dimple Napat, Gabie Desales, and Kathy Villar.
Also, another note-worthy entry was from the Motorsport Development Program (MSDP) where future champions drove a Mazda Philippines-backed Mazda 2 SkyActiv all the way to the finish line.
Local racing veterans Angie King, Carlos Anton, Don Pastor, George Apacible, Jeff Borja, Mike Tuason, Mon Dimapilis, and Peewee Mendiola also made up the roster of talents.
The rules are simple. As an endurance race, positions are not only gained or lost on track. Pit stops play a crucial role where teams need to refuel and do driver changes. The most contrasting strategies are of the car No. 34 Hyundai Accent CRDi of Team AutoForce that only required to 2 fuel stops while the Formula V1, with its small fuel tank had to stop 10 times.
With a consistent, quick pace and reliability, the car No. 2 of Team Helix Ultra 1 Honda Civic FD ran all day without a hitch and was truly in a class of its own. Andre Tan, Estefano Rivera, and Paolo Santos, winners of the 4 Oras ng Pilipinas last June, finally conquered the full 8 hour race to take the chequered flag 1st overall and in RP Class.
Despite having to rebuild their engine overnight, car No. 5 of AutoPerformance-Victor Hardware BMW M3 of Francis Aguila, George Apacible, SJ Park, and Stefan Ramirez gave a spectacular chase all the way to the end to finish 2nd with 20.079 secs behind.
Meanwhile, CarPorn x PartsPro Racing’s car No. 26 Mazda MX-5 ND put on a strong performance to dominate both FM-1 and FM-2 Classes. The all-star line up of Angie King, Allan Uy, Carlos Anton, and Tyson Sy competed 180 laps in total.
The Toyota Vios Cup cars of Mango Suites x OTR Motorsport and Team Cebu x MR Auto Shop dueled all race long for the top spot in FM-3. Bjorn Ongtiaobok, Francis Dysico, Maila Alivia, and Red Diwa would eventually finish a lap ahead of the car No. 20 of Team Cebu driven by Ate De Jong, Brian Currie, and Willem Waltheer.
Last year’s overall champion, Tuason Racing Formula V1 scores high with an Open Class win. Ferdie Ong, Louis Ramirez, Mike Tuason, Milo Rivera, and Shane Henderson brought the car home with 186 laps.
Raceform x Ethanworx x Garage 2233 took the Team Championship with a total of 510 laps between by their 3 entries. They were followed by Team Cebu x MR Auto Shop with 379 laps completed, and SmartFuels2Race Team with 375.
Petron Blaze 100 Euro 6 and Petron Blaze Racing are the official fuel and lubricant partner of Petron 8 Oras ng Pilipinas.