REAL-DEAL RACING

How Toyota allowed me to realize my track dreams

- By Pablo Salapantan

I'VE BEEN a part of the Toyota Gazoo Racing family on and off for about seven years now. I was first an online contest winner who got a chance to participate in the 2019 Autocross Challenge, which was held at the MOA concert grounds in Pasay City.

That very same year, after joining the local motoring journalism beat, I participated again for the whole season of the Autocross Challenge, a role I reprised in 2022, where I won the Autocross overall championship.

Last year, Toyota Gazoo Racing (TGR) Philippines was keen to celebrate the 10" year of the Vios Cup with a bang, and decided to expand media participation in the Novice Class. I, along with former Autocross champions and winners in the beat, joined up and chased our dreams of becoming the racers we always wanted to be.

NOVICE NO MORE

I was lucky enough to be retained for the 2025 season of the TGR Philippine Cup. With one season of circuit racing under my belt, I was expected to carry over all that I'd learned from last year to hopefully further succeed this year.

The thing about racing is that no matter how hard you practice or how deliberate you are about your race craft, you can’t really say with 100% certainty that you'll walk away the winner after every race.