Unbelievable Petron CGC ROC wins!
Part1
THE last Petron-Clark Global City Rally of Champions (CGC ROC) held recently was such a big success and produced a lot of memorable experiences. What we didn’t expect were the unbelievable winners that this leg produced!
The first time we went to this vast, well-developed CGC project, we were floored at the beauty of the location and its stunning road network. We were also amazed at how the CGC management, led by their vice chairman and president Wilfredo Placino and business development manager Simon Tantoco, welcomed our ROC into their grounds.
Here are some of those spectacular finishers in the ROC tarmac round 4 that truly made us say “Wow!”
Raffy Dizon
The second generation of the Motorsports-loving Dizon family produced not only one, but three very good drivers last season when they started in our ROC. They were the eldest of the brood Ryan, the newlywed Irene and the young Raffy. These three made their parents — father and my past navigator Mon Dizon and wife Tess — very proud.
Ryan showed great pace in our Superbattle races, especially in last season’s Subic and Antipolo legs. Irene won a Subic Arrive and Drive round in Subic and posted the lowest number of demerits that time. Raffy would also be a champion in AAD, moving him and Ryan and him to the next level, the ROC Qualifiers Division. All three, however, missed several legs due to Ryan’s wedding in 2018, Irene’s wedding this year and vacations, among others, at the expense of improving their pace.
But after a slow start in the first two rounds, the Dizons are back in force! Carrying the torch for their family was Raffy, who won the ROC Qualifiers division. The youngest Dizon won all of his four heat runs and was unbeatable in his class. This was quite a feat as brother Ryan and Andrew Tuason, winner of three legs, were present in the field.
Raffy is now a marked man in the Qualifiers Division and is deemed a threat for the championship after Tuason will miss some legs as he just left for Vietnam for his new assignment as a registered nurse.
Karol Collantes
Taking wins in the novice division of various races, Karol Collantes has never ceased to astonish us. Whether it be his first time in dirt in Splash Island round 1 or in the CGC rounds, Karol would just win most of his races, no matter what.
This weekend, Karol won the Tarmac round ROC Futures Division, Superbattle Open 2WD and the Best Time of the Day with his Honda Civic 4dr, single cam race car. He even took second in the AAD open, which he just used to warm up for the races above! Now that is real talent!
Carlos and Iñigo Anton
When you see the father-and-son phenom of Carlos and Iñigo Anton racing together, you do not have to be surprised if they win the premiere top classes. The only question is who between the two will win the top spot.
Carlos started the juggernaut by posting the best time of all in the Toyota Vios Cup car of the Obengers Team with a fantastic 1:41.48. Iñigo was second with 1:42.28, and yours truly got third with 1:44.69.
The father was not only fast in 1 lap, but in his three heat runs that brought him the Present Division win against his son by almost 5 seconds! Iñigo was caught napping in one of his runs and couldn’t overcome the lead set by his father in that fat 1 lap run.
But the Anton tandem will be battling it all out the whole year!
My most unbelievable run
With the best run of Carlos and my win in the ROC Past Division against JR Costales in the books, we were expecting the same in the final, premiere ROC Legends class. This was a 1 lap shootout among the champions of the different champions in the 1.3 liter, stock, automatic Honda City, with the only modification being the Michelin Pilot Sport 4 tires
Iñigo was the first one to run and he did a very fast 1:42.76 in the stock City. This was quite good as it was only 1.3 seconds away from the 1.5-liter race Vios Cup’s time of his father. Carlos ran next and could only do a 1:44.34. Iñigo was very happy that he beat his father and was only waiting for me to run.
After handing the mic to my substitute emcee, wearing my helmet and taking the wheel of the City, I just blocked out all thoughts and just wanted a clean run to the end. What I didn’t expect was the run was 0.03 faster than Iñigo’s and took the overall win in a stunning fashion!
I couldn’t believe it myself, as this was the first time I won over my young protégées, Carlos and Iñigo. The veterans in the crowd were also very happy as it was as if they won the race, too!
Next week, we will show the unbelievable wins in the dirt round the next day. Thank you Lord for this win; it is one of my most memorable victories in my racing career!