This season, the GITI-Formula V1 Challenge wanted to push its drivers to their limits by signing them all up for an endurance race. Of the 5 teams that entered last November, 4 registered for the 4 Hour event while only 1 was brave enough to take on the full 8 Hours.
The #41 Giti-EdgeSport entry, shared between multiple-time slalom champion Milo Rivera and veteran Vios Cup driver Bryan Co, was the quickest of the bunch. Setting a 2:10.623 lap during Qualifying placed them P2 on the grid with the lone Radical SR1 taking pole. OTR-Obengers was in a strong P3 with a 2:11.546 best that was driven by ’21 FV1 AM Class champion Joaquin ‘Wakkeen’ Garrido and Oliver ‘Oyi’ Aquino. But as with all endurance races, starting positions don’t really matter if you can’t make it to the finish.
Lo and behold, the much more potent Radical SR1 took control of the race as soon as the lights turned green on Sunday morning. It was at least 8 secs faster per lap than all the the FV1s and won the 4 Hour event with ease, but not by a mile. Starting from the front row, the #41 Giti-EdgeSport gave its best to keep up and only fell 2 laps behind to finish 2nd in the Prototype Class.
Obengers Racing’s second entry, the #310 machine of ’18 Vios Cup champion and John Dizon and Julian Tang, also did well to hang with the 2 lead cars. After 4 hours of racing it crossed the line 3rd in class with 94 laps in the bag, securing another podium for the Formula V1 squad.
The pairing of Wakkeen and Oyi in the #63 OTR-Obengers car couldn’t quite keep the pace they had in Qualifying and slid back to 4th with 91 laps completed. Meanwhile, AUTOHOLIC Raceform was the only non-finisher of the Formula V1 cars where newly crowned FV1 AM Class champion Sebastien Soto and Raffy Rabe bowed out due to an engine failure after 2 hours of running.
Then there’s the brave crew of the #85 car entered by Tuason Racing themselves. Elysse Menorca, Quattro Adriano, Jiff Armas, Paul Monastrial, and Pathrick Bautista took turns to last the full race distance. They were the only Prototype Class entry left on track and went on to complete 160 laps around the Clark International Speedway (CIS) to finish 12th overall.
The 2022 Formula V1 Challenge is presented by Tuason Racing, powered by GITI Tires and West Racing Japan, supported by Oakley, FASA, OMP, Brembo, and Rota.
