Asian Onroad Championships Philippines – Report

The recent Philippines round of the Asian Onroad Championships was held at the Bacolod Central District Speedway with some of world’s fastest electric on-road racers in attendance. This modern facility stepped it up big time providing all the participants with world-class amenities and a high grip track with a technical layout. Thursday started off the event with open practice where racers had to the chance to feel out the layout and dial in their rides. Also lhe local press was present every day of the event and did a great job of exposing RC racing to the locals. With the weather looming in the distance and an unknown forecast for Sunday, Saturday night mains under the lights was a blast to run. Thankfully Sunday was blessed with clear weather all day allowing the organisers to complete the racing program.

The first main of Modified Touring saw TQ Alexander Hagberg lead the pack at the start of the tone. Current World Champion, Ronald Volker was in tow in the second spot with third qualifier Simon Nicholson behind. Charging to the front through all the way from the eighth position was Jan Ratheisky, and he would catch a lucky break and slip into the fourth position when Nicholson rolled his car off one of the raised curbing. The finishing order would be Hagberg taking the win, Volker second and Meen Vejrak taking third.

Hagberg built a few second lead early on in the second main and it looked like he would run away with it for the easy win. Meanwhile, coming from the back, Charlee Phutiyotin slicing and dicing had managed to make his way into the third spot. A rare mistake from Hagberg though would open the door for Volker to jump into the lead with Phutiyotin now in the second position. At the end of the race, Volker would take the win, Phutiyotin second and Volker third.

A clear winner hadn’t been crown yet, so it was all or nothing in the final main for a few in contention for the overall win. Things were looking well for Hagberg up until lap 2 when he bobbled, giving up the top spot to Simon Nicholson. A few laps later, Nicholson would also bobble sending Hagberg back to the front along with Ronald Volker. Volker would tangle with traffic and put him out of contention. With so many position changes, the race would end with Hagberg finishing first and take the overall win, Meen Vejrak second and Simon Nicholson.

Modified Touring top 3:
1. Alexander Hagberg
2. Ronald Volker
3. Meen Vejrak

Germany’s Jan Ratheisky has been called the fastest stock racer in the world, so it was no surprise to see him at the top of the Super Stock 13.5 Boosted grid. At the sound of the tone, the top two got away early from the group. It would be Ratheisky and Yuichiro Takaya pulling off some clean laps allowed them to check out and run a race of their own. The gap was four seconds between the two as Ratheisky would take his first win with Takaya second. Jomil Dela Cruz scored a third place finish.

In A2 Ratheisky once again got a clean start leading the pack in the first lap. One racer determined to gain some spots was third qualifier Jomil Dela Cruz pressuring Yuichiro Takaya. They would connect on the short straight in front of the drivers stand as Takaya would go just a little wide. Dela Cruz took advantage taking the inside line. Dela Cruz would hold the second spot for a bit, but some racing incidents knocked him down in the rankings. A2 finished with Ratheisky’s second win and overall win. John Puse would finish second and Takaya finished third.

With the overall win secured, the closest racing was yet to come. Ratheisky started off leading, but Takaya would sneak by on the first lap to take the top spot. The two would tangle two laps later and Michael Lo, watching from the third position slipped into the lead. Two laps after that, Takaya and Lo would tangle to let Ratheisky to once again take the lead. The finishing order would be Ratheisky taking the win, Takaya second and Lo third.

Super Stock 13.5 Boosted top 3:
1. Jan Ratheisky
2. Yuichiro Takaya
3. Jomil Dela Cruz

There was a lot of mixing up at the beginning of the first 17.5 blinky starting with TQ Yuichiro Takaya spinning out in the first lap causing a small pile up in the middle of the track. Lex Tyler, John Puse, and Benji Ecleo managed to cleanly make it through the crash. Tyler and Puse battled with the time remaining with Puse winning that battle. Puse would score the first main win, Lex Tyler second and Benji Ecleo third.

The second main had a cleaner start, as it was Yuichiro Takaya leading the charge going into the first few turns of the layout. The field started to freight train early in the race with the field staying in the positions they started. With the clock winding down and few positions being traded up top, Takaya would take the win, Lex Tyler second and John Puse in third.

With no clear winner crowned yet, it would all come down to the third and final main to decide the winner. Just as it looked like TQ Yuichiro Takaya would run away with it, a small spin out was all it took for Lex Tyler and John Puse to slip by. Takaya, now in the third position continued to pressure the front runners, but tight lines made a pass almost impossible. The finishing order would be Lex Tyler taking the win, John Puse second and Yuichiro Takaya in third.

Stock Touring 17.5 Blinky top 3:
1. John Puse
2. Lex Tyler
3. Yuichiro Takaya

TQ Rains Viola was on a mission as he attempted to carry the momentum from qualifying to the Scorpion Spec Class mains. Things got off to a pretty clean start with almost an immediate departure from Viola, Tutoy Aldaba and Tim Sypico from the rest of the pack. The three battled it out for most of the 5-minute main giving a good show. Viola would claim his first win with Aldaba finishing 2nd and Sypico 3rd.

The second main would be almost a repeat of the first with Rains Viola again jumping to the front of the pack. As Viola started to check out, the battle brewing behind him was between Jerome Supan and Tutoy Aldaba. With almost identical fast lap times, the two traded positions as the race went on. In the end though, Aldaba edged out Supan at the line with less than half a second to spare. Rains Viola scored his second win and the overall win in the class.

You would think Rains Viola would sit out the third main, but he wanted to have fun racing his friends and opted to run. Two spots remained on the podium and the rest of the field was gunning for them. Fast guy Rains Viola surprisingly didn’t dominate early on. Instead, Tutoy Aldaba and Jerome Supan stepped it up and jumped into the one and two spots. And that is the order they would finish. Aldaba would take the win, Supan second and Rains Viola third.

Spec class top 3:
1. Rains Viola
2. Tutoy Aldaba
3. Jerome Supan

Probably one of the toughest classes to make up time if you have a crash or a bobble, the Scale Tub Class demands perfect driving. Tutoy Aldaba and Benji Ecleo jumped out to the front in the field of five cars. Racing was close up until lap 3 when Benji suffered a traction roll in the large sweeper after the straight. Ecleo still managed to get a 17-lap run like Aldaba with a 5-second lead. Aldaba scored the win with Ecleo second and Tatsuya Komori third.

The second main was shaping out to be a repeat of the first main. Benji Ecleo was on fire in the first lap banging doors with Tutoy Aldaba pulling off a clean pass a couple turns before the back straight. Once again, traction roll problems found Benji as he started on the back straight yielding the top spot back to Tutoy. Benji would eventually battle his way back to the second position. Tutoy Aldaba took the first position and over all win in the class, Ecleo second and Komori third.

The big story in the A3 main was Wilfredo Sevilla making a power play for a top spot and immediately jumped into the second spot behind Tutoy. The two swapped positions a few times, unfortunately for Wilfredo, a couple bobbles knocked him out of striking distance for the rest of the race. The finishing ended with Benji Ecleo in first, Wilfredo Sevilla second and Tim Sypico third.

Scale Tub Class top 3:
1. Tutoy Aldaba
2. Benji Ecleo
3. Wilfredo Sevilla

Source: AOC [aocrc.com]