TOUR DE CEBU BRINGS INTERNATIONAL CARS

Event aims to preserve historic sports cars

The annual Philippine historic sports car rally, Tour de Cebu, is back from Oct. 20 to 22 and is being co-presented by Pirelli, Chopard and Be Grand Resort.

Now on its fourth run, the three-day event is the country’s only 1,000-kilometer historic sports car rally across the Visayas, which is inspired by the Mille Miglia, the 1,000-mile openroad endurance race in Italy.

Unlike speed races, Tour de Cebu is a regularity event which must be completed in a pre- defined time and not in the fastest time possible. Crossing the line early or late makes no difference since the participants will still gain penalty points. The declared champion is the car with the lowest penalty score, which was won last year by Marty Aguilar, who drove a 1967 Toyota S800.

Tour de Cebu is a motorsports event that promotes the preservation of historic sports cars. This year, the event will have a 1959 Jaguar XK150, which has participated in various car rallies abroad, and the Louis Vuitton Classic China Run, which will be brought over from Singapore to be driven by Rewind magazine editor Eli Solomon and co-driver Angeline Khoo.

The Tour de Cebu activities will start at Montebello Villa Hotel, the official Cebu residence of all the participating cars in the “Tour de Cebu Car Show” on Oct. 19.

On Oct. 20, all participants prepare to go to Bohol for the official flag-off rally. The rally is composed of six stages covering various roads in Bohol. They are expected to be back in Cebu on Oct. 22 at Montebello.