Philippine Masters Race 2014 –Report

It was a hectic weekend of racing at the newly-designed Circulo Verde Racetrack in Metro Manila Philippines as the 2014 edition of the Philippine Masters got under way, with 2WD Electric Buggy, 2WD and 4WD Short Course, as well as  1/8 Electric Buggy added to the traditional Masters classes of Nitro Buggy and Truggy. Track held up throughout the day with a perfect weather conditions.

Saturday was devoted to Nitro Buggy, and visiting racer Zac Ryan from Australia capitalised on a steady hand and a broken shock on 3-time champion Clemen Pancho’s Serpent to pilot his Kyosho to 1st place in the A Main. Denis Lucindo tried to keep pace with the Aussie, but a pair of flame outs put him 3 laps behind Ryan which was enough though to finish 2nd with his Maxy-powered Xray XB8 2014. Clemen Pancho nursed his Serpent on 3 good shocks to finish 3rd. Edward Sio with his MBX7/Novarossi got away from the traffic early on the second corner and was able to lead for the first 10 mins of the main, still he landed badly on the quad and flamed out. Sunday saw the running of all other classes, the highlight of which was young lady racer Shania Yulo bumping up all the way from the C Main to win top spot in the A. World-renowned race commentator Scotty Ernst took a break from his role as commentator and race director and showed experience counters tremendously, as he won first place in 2WD buggy, a class only recently-revived in the Philippines.

The healthy turnout in all classes left the volunteer organisers more excited to organise the 2015 edition slated for the first weekend of April, where they promise to outdo themselves, as they have done every year.

Thanks to Edward Sio for sending the report.