MIKE POTENCIANO
Mike Potenciano, now 58, not only raced cars, at the age of 22 , in 1983 he organized the MP Turbo Rally Team which helped to popularize motor sport nationwide.
Potenciano's major podium finishes began in 1986, when he won the Philippine National Slalom Championship, and placed second in Class A-4, 8th Overall at the Hong Kong- Beijing Rally.
In 1990, he was Production Division Champion and finished 9th Overall at the Malaysian Rally.
He collected more trophies in the following years: 1991-1994 National Rally Cross Champion with the Mazda-mp Turbo Team, 1992 National Karter of the Year, 1995-1996 Philippine National Production Class Champion with the Caltex-mitsubishi team.
Many more production racing titles came his way during 1998-2003 with the Hyundai-mp Turbo Team, capped by 2nd Overall in the Asian Formula 2000 in 2002 and winner of two rounds in Thailand.
In 2007, Potenciano won the Philippine GT Team Championship, although he had retired from fulltime racing in 2003. In 2018, Potenciano organized the MP Turbo Rally of Champions (ROC) in which he also competes.
For Potenciano, the most memorable race of his career was his first international rally, the Hong Kong to Beijing Rally in 1986 where he and his navigator placed 2nd in Group A4 and 8th Overall.
Second most memorable in rally racing was the 1990 Malaysian Rally where he won the Production Division Championship and finished 9th Overall.
In circuit racing, the most memorable was the 2002 Asian Formula 2000 Championship where he missed the title by only one point in the end due to "very dubious terms."
"I focused on both rally and circuit racing, that is why our Rally of Champions has both tarmac and dirt races," Potenciano says. "We advocate trying all genre of motor sport by all race car drivers."
At present, Potenciano writes a weekly motor sport column for The Manila Times and contributes articles to various print and online sites, including his own mpturbo.com. He runs the online site together with his partner, Lindy Pellicer, ditto their Turbo Time TV show on Cignal TV'S ONE PH channel and TV5 every Saturday, 7 - 8 pm.
FINISH LINE. This feature article on motor sport in the last 34 years unfortunately does not include many outstanding race car drivers for lack of space and data sources - a living legend like Golden Wheel Hall of Famer Dante Silverio, who dominated the sport in the 1970s and retired in the 1980s, his son Jojo Silverio, Eddie Marcelo and his son Jovy who tragically perished at age 27 when his Lola Cosworth car smashed into the wall during a practice run for the 1992 Indy 500 race on the Indianapolis Speedway; Conrado "Dodo" Ayuyao, Enzo Pastor, Tyson Sy, and Marlon Stockinger, among others.
Meanwhile, in his "Fast Lane" epilogue, Mandy Eduque wrote that motor sport in the Philippines has already evolved from a mere hobby of the wealthy into a full-fledged industry employing thousands of Filipinos and contributing millions to the economy, aside from bringing honor and recognition to the Philippines through the victories of Filipino racers abroad and the hosting of international motor sport events here like the FIA Sport Conference last June which was attended by some 350 delegates from all over the world.
What Eduque wrote about the benefits of motor sport to the country still rings true, and many times over.