Last June 16, the grueling 2024 Petron Kalayaan Cup went underway at the Clark International Speedway (CIS) in Pampanga. What began as a morning of uncertainty ended in a late afternoon of celebration as team MSCC showed class, dominating force at the 12-hour endurance race in style.
The #55 Team MSCC Mazda Miata MX-5 clinched first place in the Open A category, completing 250 laps of the 4.2 km long circuit, and securing the Fastest Lap with a time of 2:10.687. The victory was marked by a dramatic last-lap overtake, highlighting the team’s resilience and strategy.
Despite challenging conditions, Team MSCC Mazda Miata, led by Team Manager Edgen Dy-Liacco, crafted a winning strategy focusing on the car’s stock 184 PS, 205 Nm 2.0-liter Skyactiv-G engine and 6-speed Skyactiv-Drive manual transmission. The car, lightened for the 12-hour race, was driven by five experienced racers: Angie King, Tyson Sy, Juha Turalba, Windy Imperial, and Mazda Motorsports’ Takahiro Kobayakawa.
Qualifying in P2, the MX-5 quickly lost two places but regained the lead by Lap 3 with Tyson Sy behind the wheel. Angie King remarked, “The performance of the MX-5 this year exceeded our expectations. We think we have already reached the optimal efficiency of what this car offers as a racing platform.”
At the 4.5-hour mark, a gearbox fault caused the team to lose several gears, reducing their pace significantly. Juha Turalba managed to bring the car back to the pits, where the team decided to continue racing despite the setback. “Mechanical issues happen in racing,” said Tyson Sy. “The team decided that for as long as we have the parts, we’ll continue. At this point, our mindset was simply never to give up.”
Under the supervision of Dy-liacco, the mechanics replaced the entire gearbox in less than two hours. By then, the team was nearly 40 laps behind, in last place. The drivers worked tirelessly to claw back, cutting the lap difference to just 25 laps by the 10-hour mark. With the race leaders experiencing their own issues, Team MSCC Mazda Miata found themselves in 7th place overall, just 21 laps down to the leaders and two laps behind their main rival in the Open A Class by the 11.5-hour mark.
In the final lap, Tyson Sy managed a dramatic overtake at the Acacia Corner, securing the Open A Championship. “Every race, we treat winning as the ultimate reward and thanks to everyone’s efforts—the drivers, the mechanics, everyone—our class victory at the 2024 Kalayaan Cup 12-hour Endurance Race is much sweeter,” said Steven Tan. “We faced hardships in achieving our result this year, but it’s all part of Mazda’s ‘Never Stop Challenging Spirit.’ I’m so proud of what Team MSCC Mazda Miata has achieved.”
This victory builds on the team’s previous successes, including overall wins at the 2 and 4-hour 2024 Kagitingan Cup. In 2023, the same car won the 4-hour Kagitingan Cup. In 2022, it took the overall victory at the 8-hour Makabayan Endurance Race Challenge. It won the 8-Oras ng Pilipinas and 12-Hour Kalayaan Cup in 2019 and the 12-Hour Kalayaan Cup in 2021.
