A weekend at the races: The Vios Cup

The Vios Cup, held over the weekend at Clark International Speedway in Pampanga, is the Philippines' only one-make car race. Photo: Paul John Caña

Motorsports fans in the Philippines (and there are many, believe it or not) had something to cheer about last weekend with the Toyota Vios Cup happening at the Clark International Speedway in Pampanga. This is the fourth edition of the country’s only one-make car race.

Twenty-year-old Daniel Miranda of Obengers outclassed his more senior competitors to win both opening races in the Super Sporting Class division of the first round of the annual race.

Other winners of Round One were Tonton Ramos of Toyota San Fernando (Sporting Class) and teammate Don Vic Portugal, also of Toyota San Fernando (Promotional Class). Model and host Fabio Ide, meanwhile topped the Celebrity Class.

Since its beginnings in 2014, the Vios Cup has provided locals fans with genuine thrills that only a real motorsports race can deliver. It provided ordinary consumers the opportunity to actually participate in the race, provided they have the means to purchase the Vios Cup package of the bestselling sub-compact sedan. If they couldn’t, they could be spectators and watch the races for free at the Clark Speedway. Toyota also had the smart idea of inviting TV, film and social media celebrities to join the race to bring it to a wider audience.

 

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Apr 28, 2017 at 9:50pm PDT

Only non-professional racers—whether they’re regular people or celebrities—are allowed to compete in order to place emphasis on the race as being designed for everyone.

This year saw 72 participants suiting up for the race, the biggest number ever in the race’s history. The number includes 66 individual racers and six celebrity racers.

Besides Ide, the other celebrity drivers this year are Aubrey Miles, Gretchen Ho, Ella Cruz, Dominic Roque, Jasmine Curtis Smith, Jericho Rosales and Jake Cuenca.

All but Rosales and Cuenca were present at the kickoff race in Clark last weekend. Toyota officials say the two will be at succeeding legs of the race, which will happen in June, September and November.

“The Vios Cup is not only just a local racing activity but it is now recognized as part of Toyota Gazoo racing Asia’s events,” said Satoru Suzuki, president of Toyota Motors Philippines. Toyota Gazoo is the Japanese motoring giant’s special motorsports division aimed to to “develop better technologies and solutions for our global motorsports activities.”

“It is clear that the Vios Cup has become at par with other international racing programs,” Suzuki added.

The Vios Cup has grown in scale so much that many people trek to Clark from all over the country to watch the race. This year, Toyota has seen it fit to provide other attractions for fans to enjoy besides the race. Side activities for this year include a mini arcade, a skidcart space, bungee trampoline, an inflatable mountain climb and a selfie park.

Last year, Toyota Motors Philippines came in at number 10 in the global ranking for overseas sales of Toyota vehicles for the first time, outpacing markets in Taiwan, India, UK, and Russia. — BM, GMA News