Race of the classics
Driving vintage car, marathoner Yong Larrazabal tops 1,000-kilometer Tour de Cebu race
OPHTHALMOLOGIST Dr. Potenciano “Yong” Larrazabal III endured the grueling 1,000-kilometer drive of the 2015 Tour de Cebu and went home a champion in the Sports Car Four-Cylinder and above division.
Larrazabal drove a 1965 Shelby Cobra in the three-day 1,000K historic vintage sports car rally across the Visayas. A marathoner and run organizer Larrazabal accumulated the lowest demerits on his division after five exciting legs which started off at the I.T Park in Lahug last Oct. 3 and ended at Chateau de Busay last Monday.
The participants traveled from Cebu City to Santander for the first leg, the second leg from Negros to Dumaguete City, the third leg covered Dumaguete to San Carlos City, the fourth leg from Cabangcalan to Bacolod and the final leg from Bacolod to the Port of San Carlos City.
At every leg, the racers were given an exact time to reach their destination. The demerits were given based on how early or how fast the racers reached the check points.
The racer with the lowest demerit wins the division.
Larrazabal, a finisher of 42 marathons and a qualifier for the renowned Boston Marathon, have put to use the strength of his legs for this vintage sports car rally.
“It was tiring and you have to be physically and mentally ready for it. Good thing for me my legs are used to it because I'm doing marathons,” he told Sun.Star Cebu in a telephone interview yesterday. “To have a good navigator was also a factor for Tour de Cebu.”
The scenic views that were part of the route made a perfect event for the participants. Larrazabal said the best one he had was when they passed on the Salvador Benedicto in Negros Occidental, a place called as “little Baguio”.
Bobby Aboitiz placed second to Larrazabal in the Sports Car 4-Cylinder and above division. Christopher Yu topped the Sports Car 4-Cylinder division with his 1971 MGB, actor Dominic Ochoa was in second place driving a 1969 MGB GT. Mike Jo won the Non-Sport division with a 1964 Karmann Gia.
The second edition of Tour de Cebu hosted by Performance and Classics Enthusiasts of Cebu (Pace) and in cooperation with the Manila Sports Car Club (MSCC) was joined by 27 cars and 22 of them had finished the 1,000K route; the others were not able to complete because of mechanical problems.
Peppon Marave, a former Formula Asia Champion, was the overall race director.