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Manila Bulletin devider devider Heart-racing fun at the Vios Cup

Heart-racing fun at the Vios Cup

Published Sep 27, 2018 04:02 pm
082818RoadSense1 The big news in the motoring beat is about a subcompact car named the Toyota Vios. Last Saturday, 48 Vios cars driven by non-professional race drivers crossed the finish line in the final leg of the now famous Vios Cup held at the Clark International Speedway in Pampanga. This motorsports event created by Toyota Motor Philippines in 2013 was designed to introduce grassroots motorsports to present the spirit of "waku-doki" (heart-racing fun). It's more "heart-racing" of course, to watch the race at the speedway, where the roar of the engines and the odor of gasoline, oil and sweat waft in the air. Even Tinni Arevalo, TMP first vice president for brand and product planning cluster, who witnessed her first season of the Vios Cup this year, said she felt the adrenalin and the heart-racing fun while standing at turn one and watching the drama of men and machine racing. Unfortunately, I was nursing a cold and found the heart-racing fun in the comfort of the air-conditioned VIP Lounge of Toyota. There, I also found old friends and good conversation mixed well with the view of the Vios cars speeding around the 4.1-kilometer speedway — on a giant video wall, with the voice of James Deakin bringing all details of the race closer to us. And so between good conversation, we watched 19 racers speed through the promotional-celebrity class, 15 racers in the sporting class, and 14 in the super sporting class. 082818roadsense2 Technology enhanced the entertainment value of the motorsports event, with cameras bringing us closer to the action, closer than if I stood by the fence — with replays of the skids, the crashes, the daring overtaking maneuvers. As the racing Vios closed another successful season, the Toyota Vios continues the race to end another year of being the best-selling passenger car in the Philippines, a title that it has held for 16 years! After TMP introduced the Vios in 2003, it has sold 270,119 units as of the end of August 2018. This year, up to the end of the third quarter, 36,733 units were sold — and there's four more months to push that figure. That's quite a leap from the 2,994 units sold in 2003! "The other objective of this race is that we have proven the quality and durability of the Vios," Tinni said, explaining the work put in by dedicated craftsmen and mechanics into each Vios car, incidentally the 2013 model. The Vios Cup has also proven that "grassroots racing" has attracted a following — with a lot of potential to increase, Tinni said. TMP has counted some 8,000 spectators who follow the racing weekend in Clark, quite a distance from Metro Manila. On other weekends when the races are held in the metro, more spectators have come.  Tinni pointed out that when the Vios Cup was held at the Mall of Asia Complex in Pasay City in 2016, and in Alabang in 2017, it drew a crowd of 20,000. The awarding ceremonies for the winners of the fifth season will be held some time in November.  The overall season winner gets a Vios 1.5 G manual transmission, Carlo Ablaza, AVP for Lexus brand department, said. Carlo was my walking Google, ready to supply any information I asked about the Vios Cup – and the weather too. If you have not yet watched a race, catch the next Vios Cup season next year.  It will give you a new experience! By Pinky Concha Colmenares
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