CLARK FREEPORT— Tuason Racing Service President JP Tuason said that the Vios Cup event would be permanently held at the Clark International Speedway inside this Freeport.
The announcement was made during the press briefings on Wednesday of the 3rd leg of the 4th Season of the Vios Cup held at the Clark’s racetrack.
Because of the location and the track’s international standard, the organizers of the Vios Cup decided to make Clark its home in the celebrity-filled racing event where thousands of race fanatics from all over the country are in attendance.
At least 60 race enthusiasts, including celebrities, businessmen, athletes, and politicians will compete on Sept. 16 and 17 on the weekend race, Tuason said.
Tuason said the Toyota Vios Cup Season 4 will comprise of 3 driver classes; the Rota Promotional Class, Bridgestone Sporting Class, and the Super Sporting Class (which is now called the Total Excellium Sporting Class).
The Rota Promotional Class is where new drivers, rookie racers, and celebrity participants will battle it out for championship points. To those on the lookout for this year’s celebrity participants, the grid will include Fabio Ide, Jasmine Curtis-Smith, Jericho Rosales, Aubrey Miles, Ella Cruz, Dominic Roque, and Gretchen Ho, among others.
The Bridgestone Sporting Class is where the remaining drivers from last season’s Sporting Class will compete. It will also be the playing field for the top 5 finishers from the Rota Promotional Class, as well as the sponsored drivers. Total Excellium Super Sporting Class is where those who’ve completed 1 Vios Cup season, the top 5 Bridgestone Sporting Class finishers, and sponsored drivers will try to outclass each other for the win, Tuason said.
Tuason Racing School’s JP Tuason highlighted the Total Excellium Super Sporting Class with new rule changes.
These include allowing teams to change the cars’ exhaust manifolds and suspension bushings, but only parts mu be provided by Toyota Racing Development (TRD) for added power and better handling.
Tuason also said that teams are allowed to lower some of the weight of the cars to a minimum of 1,050 kilogram including the driver.
Tuason said the rule is simple, there should be no change in the engine dispensation or improvements to be made to make the playing field equal to all drivers, and to make the race fun and enjoyable. All Vios cars to be used for the racing event will use a stock 1.5 G engine, manual.
Should the owner made some improvements in the engine, the race car driver will be automatically disqualified and will be banned for one year, Tuason said.
Finally, Round 4 will be held on is on November 18 to 19, also in Clark. The event was rescheduled to give way to the ASEAN Ministers’ meeting in Clark and the expected volume of people coming where most hotels will be fully booked by then.
Tuason also said that they expect Keiichi Tsuchiya, known as the “Drift King” and inventor of the car drifting in Japan, will be among the celebrities that will come during the 3rd leg of the Vios Cup here. (Eric Jimenez)