Time Attack Manila

  • Home
  • Race Results
  • Toyota Team Cebu caps off TGR Vios Cup with wins and podiums at 2022 season…

Toyota Team Cebu caps off TGR Vios Cup with wins and podiums at 2022 season finale

2022 was a rebirth for Toyota Team Cebu (TTC). The squad from the Queen City of the South made a grand comeback to the Toyota Gazoo Racing (TGR) Vios Cup after a 2-year hiatus with 5 of its 6 drivers being new recruits. Yet, despite their inexperience in the one-make-series, they were able to wrap up the season with 3 race wins and 11 podium finishes.

Sadly, the final round of the year held last November 18/19 at the Clark International Speedway (CIS) was also the last on track appearance of one of its pioneer members. Lord Seno drove for the team for all 7 seasons and played a vital role as Team Captain. He will now hang up his #43 racing number at the end of the year as he heads into retirement.

Super Sporting Class
The season finale, however, wasn’t the sendoff Lord was hoping for. 5th fastest in QTT, the veteran was able to hold position for the entire 12-lap race on Friday afternoon to finish where he had started. But things didn’t exactly go his way on Saturday morning. Lord managed a clean getaway from 3rd on the grid and slotted into P6 after a chaotic opening laps. His charge was then interrupted by a lengthly Safety Car period before his #43 Vios OMR was forced to retire due to a technical issue a few laps later.

One last hurrah from the TTC Team Captain saw him battle hard for P5 in Race 9. Unable to keep up with the pace of the championship contenders on dark and damp conditions, he later settled into 6th place and cruised to the chequered flag to wrap up a colorful racing history in the TGR Vios Cup.

Sporting Class
Russel Cabrera has been a revelation for TTC winning on his race debut back in August. He then showed the same level of performance during the season ender and delivered impressive results yet again. A slow Qualifying lap only secured him P7 on the grid, but that didn’t stop him from going on full attack mode in Race 7 on Friday.

The 18-year-old managed to gain 3 positions under 12 laps of racing to score valuable points in 4th. Now starting from P3, Russel slotted in to P2 on the opening lap and gave chase to the leader. However, it proved to be difficult to overtake as both drivers were equally matched, forcing him to settle 2nd place.

His hopes of finishing the season on a high, unfortunately never materialized. Russel struggled for grip on a damp Race 9 and while he managed to climb up to a podium position, he later fell back to finish in 5th where he started.

Promotional Class
All hopes of a strong result for TTC rested with the trio of Jarond Mesina, Alan Palacios, and Ian Rosales. Their strategy was to shed as much success ballast off as possible in Race 7 by finishing no higher than 4th, 5th, and 6th. This should give them the best chance possible in Race 8 and 9 where double points are up for grabs. And that’s exactly what they did with Ian in 4th, Alan in 5th, and Jarond in 6th.

With their lightened cars, the trio were easily the fastest drivers on track in Race 8 and took control at the front. It was a dream result for TTC as Jarond, Ian, and Alan delivered a 1-2-3 finish across the line. But their celebrations were cut short when Ian was slapped with a 20 secs time penalty for repeatedly exceeding track limits, dropping him to 6th and promoting Alan to 2nd.

Race 9 was a winner-take-all showdown with Alan leading in the points and Ian in 2nd. However, Alan’s championship hopes slipped away on the slippery track as he could only keep 6th when the chequered flag dropped. This left Ian to fight for the title in the rain against fellow championship contender Jay Lao of OTR Racing. The 2 would swap places throughout the race with Alan losing out on the race and Promotional Class title win by a mere 0.670 secs. Jarond then wrapped up the weekend in 8th. Still, it was a strong showing for Toyota Team Cebu who finished their comeback season 2nd and 3rd overall in the Promotional Class Championship.

Lord Seno, Team Captain: “The team performed well on Toyota Team Cebu’s return to the TGR Vios Cup since the pandemic. We encountered a few issues along the way, but it’s a relatively young team with new drivers and we were out there primarily to learn. Delivering results was secondary, yet I’m proud of our drivers to have achieved race wins and podium finishes on their first season in the TGR Vios Cup. They are the next generation of Toyota Team Cebu and I’m proud to have raced alongside Russel, Ian, Alan, Jarond, and Felvin. We’re looking forward to see them continue racing the team’s colors, which we started back in 2014.”

Toyota Team Cebu is sponsored by Toyota Mandaue South, Standard Insurance, BCR Construction, Bethel Insurance, Daily Driven Transport Taxi, Solid Construction, BG Injector Cleaner, LG Farms, Staging Lines Cebu, Blueflame LPG Refilling, LTS Luminex, Suarez and Sons Inc., MMF Glass Factory, Bully Concepts, and MRA Performance Shop.

[Photos by James Morales Jr]

Share this blog

Time Attack Manila

Time Attack Manila

Founded in late 2013, Time Attack Manila (TAM) is the only dedicated online magazine in the Philippines that focuses on local and international motorsports.
View All Posts
Time Attack Manila

Time Attack Manila

Founded in late 2013, Time Attack Manila (TAM) is the only dedicated online magazine in the Philippines that focuses on local and international motorsports.
View All Posts