Local motorsport event Touge Battle is back after years of absence. Now part of Aggressive Line Event’s Full Throttle Weekend (FTW) racing event, Touge Battle held its first round of racing at the Batangas Racing Circuit after missing three years since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
To get a glimpse of what it is all about, Touge Battle is inspired by its Japanese origins of racing on mountain roads. If you are familiar with the Initial D manga and anime series, then you definitely know that these A Line people are making Filipino car guys’ Takumi Fujiwara dreams closer to reality. Touge Battle just eliminated the dangerous and illegal bits of touge racing and hosted the racing on the race track. Where racing is supposed to be.
Aggressive Line Events tweaked the Initial D rules to make everything safer without eliminating the excitement for everyone. Entries are classified based on vehicle type. There are two main classes in the series, Street and Race. Street is, in essence, where street cars run. As long as the car has complete interiors, OEM glass all around, and 200 tread-wear rating and up tires, it qualifies in the Street category. Race is pretty much anything that does not comply with Street Class rules. These two classes are then further divided into classes based on the vehicle’s engine displacement.
Battle pairing is determined based on the times gathered during the qualifying session. The battle is the main race, it is when a racer goes head-to-head against another racer. A battle is set for two runs where one racer will either lead or chase and vice-versa for the next run. In order to win a battle, one must either shorten the gap if the racer is on chase, or spread the gap if the racer is on lead. The battle is done knockout style, so one must win in order to advance to another battle.
Touge Battle’s 2023 return
The Touge Battle returned to start its 2023 season at the exhilarating Batangas Racing Circuit. The cambered corners and consecutive turns provided the action for the much-anticipated comeback of the racing series.
The Bantam Class where street cars of 1300cc and below race is championed by Karl Mallen. The Economy Class, where vehicles of 1301cc to 1500cc run, is won by Krissha De Torres, followed by Paolo Ilacad in second place, and Johnelito Paredes in third place.
For the Regular Class, where 1551cc to 1950cc cars race, Eliel Alonzo took the top spot followed by Krissha De Torres in second place and C.J. Dy in third place. As for the cars with 1951cc to 2450cc that raced in the Premium Class, it was Christopher Co who took the win followed by James Ong in second place. Laurence Arias completed the class podium with this third place finish.
The Turbo+ Class where boosted engines and vehicles with engine displacement of 2451cc-3750cc run was championed by Hernel Castillo. Marco Carmona took home the second place trophy followed by Jowil Lazaga who completed the class podium in third place. Zachary Mendoza took home the Prestige Class, or cars with 3751cc and above engines, top spot. Jonathan Go followed in second place and Wesley Tsai in third place.
Race 3 Class, or race cars with 1550cc and below, is won by J.R. Gan. Meanwhile, for race cars with 1551cc-2200cc, Xander Perez took home the Race 2 Class win. Andre Tan took second place and Thomas Raldorf in third. The Race 1 Class, or otherwise known as the open class, is championed by Angelo Magtoto. Jan Torado and Mark Savino complete the class podium in second and third place, respectively.
Round 2 back in Batangas
Touge Battle is going back to the Batangas Racing Circuit for the second round of the season. This round will be held in a back-to-back Full Throttle Weekend with the Touge Battle round 2 happening on April 29, Saturday followed by Clubman Racing on April 30, Sunday.
Like and follow FTW- Full Throttle Weekend’s Facebook page for more information about the races and schedules.
