The Philippine Rallycross Series (PHRX) brought the action back to South Luzon for the Rounds 2 and 3 of the league’s 2023 season following the season opener at Driftwoods Action Park in Indang, Cavite. The dirt racing happened last March 26, 2023 at the developing community of Pueblo De Oro Townscapes located in Malvar, Batangas. It was a double-header race day with two rounds held, Round 2 for the day race and Round 3 for the night race.
Dirty Batangas morning
Group 1’s morning round was bagged by JP Polintan in his Toyota Vios rally car with a combined time of 6:10.520. 2019 Group 1 Champion Choy Mabunay settled in second place using his Lancer CB with the time of 6:23.410. First time Group 1 participant Marvin Susara completed the Group 1 Round 2 podium with his time of 10:23.370.
Paul Santos, who recently received his AAP Rallycross Driver of the Year award for his 2022 Group 3 feat, finished on top of Round 2’s Group 2 class with the time of 5:59.430 in his Civic EK rally car. 2021 Group 2 champion and Golden Wheel Rallycross awardee Louie Cahamcho returned to his trusty Corolla E10 rally car and placed second with the time of 6:01.500. Defending class champion and slalom champion Peewee Mendiola completed the Group 2 Round 2 podium in his Corolla E10 rally car with the total time of 6:02.050.
Santos, who is the current class champion, is doing well in securing his Group 3 title as he secured the top spot in the class with the total time of 5:53.390. Camacho came in second place with a total time of 5:56.260. Mendiola finished third with a time of 5:57.590.
Santos’ dominance stretched until Group 4 as he again snatched the win with his time of 5:52.220. Mendiola settled in second place with a total time of 5:55.280. Abet Reyes finished in third place using his Civic EK rally car with a time of 6:04.440.
The Open Class category was won by the defending class champion and younger Paulo Santos using his RAV4 rally car with the time of 5:52.630. Arlan Reyes, in his shiny Lancer CB, finished second place with a time of 6:07.470. Abet Reyes completed the Open Class podium with the time of 6:10.940.
Current class champion Camacho won the UV Class battle using his Isuzu D-Max with the time of 6:00.660. Allan Sarmiento in his Ranger finished in second place with the total time of 6:05.880. DJ De Guzman completed the class podium in his RAV4 rally car with the time of 6:17.340.
For the AWD class, the younger Santos won with the time of 6:06.070. Austin Sarmiento came in second using his Ranger pickup truck with the total time of 6:24.530. Kalvin Sumagui finished in third place using his daily-driven Forester SJ with the total time of 6:40.570.
Defending RWD champ EZ Ligaya won the morning race of the class using the Debest 316i E36 with the time of 6:26.270. Jun Magno came in second using the 3S-GE-swapped E36 with the time of 6:32.110, followed by Rolando Tecson in third with the time of 6:54.170 using the Debest 316i.
Camacho bagged the Pick-up Class win with the time of 6:01.620. Allan Sarmiento finished in second with 6:15.100, and PHRX newcomer Jimuel Panganiban completed the class podium in his Ranger Raptor with the time of 6:31.150.
Night round action
The intensity never faded, down to the night races for Round 3. Group 1 podium saw the same faces in their respective places with Polintan at the top with 3:08.020 followed by Mabunay in second with 3:21.010, and Susara in third with 03:23.100.
Paul Santos still in the lead in Round 3 of Group 2 with 2:58.750 followed by Mendiola in second with the time of 3:02.270, and Polintan in his new Civic EG hatch rally car in third with the time of 3:03.060.
The same podium arrangement was carried over to Group 3 with Santos in first with the time of 2:55.720. Mendiola and Polintan are separated by only two-tenths of a second with 3:02.630 and 3:02.850, respectively.
Night race of Group 4 was still won by Santos with the total time of 2:58.380. Mendiola came to a close second at 2:58.870, while Edsel De Dios completed the class podium with 3:01.860.
Round 3’s Open Class was won by Abet Reyes with the time of 3:08.550 followed by Paulo Santos in second with the time of 3:13.230. Arlan Reyes clocked in 3:17.740 using a 1NZ-powered Charade earning him a podium place finish.
Camacho again defended his UV Class win in the morning with the time of 3:11.630, followed by De Guzman in second with 3:12.280.
Austin Sarmiento grabbed the AWD Class win with the time of 3:18.040 over Paulo Santos who clocked in 3:19.790. Sumagui placed third with the time of 4:05.090.
Magno finished on top of the Round 3 RWD Class with the time of 3:16.110, followed by Jimbo Flores in second place using his BMW 316i E36 with the time of 3:37.080.
Allan Sarmiento emerged as the winner of the night race of the Pick-up Class with the time of 3:02.200 followed by Camacho in second place with the time of 3:39.460.
Philippine Rally 2023
Following the recent Rounds 2 and 3 of PHRX, coming up next is the first round of the Philippine Rally 2023. The follow up to the 2018 Philippine Rally, the first full rally event in almost two decades.
As per PHRX director Olson Camacho, the first round of the 2023 Philippine Rally will be in May with the exact date to be announced. As for the location, the group teased that it will be somewhere close to the metro, in North Luzon. While still mum to give details, Camacho hinted that the first round of the Philippine Rally will consist of more than 10 special stages with over 60-km of mixed tarmac and dirt surface.
PHRX invites everyone to follow their Facebook page for updates regarding the 2023 Philippine Rally and Philippine Rallycross Series.
The Philippine Rallycross Series is supported by Pueblo De Oro Townscapes, Clark Global City, Driftwoods Action Park, Sand Base, Pradera Verde, Isuzu Philippines Corporation, Accelera Tires, Tyron, Autoplus Sports, Aguila Auto Glass, AC Delco, Method Race Wheels, Automobile Association Philippines, Martin DV, and CW Home Depot.
