SUBIC — After being penalized in Round 5, Enzo Pastor came back for an impressive run to rule Round 6 of the Philippine National Touring Car Championship 2005 recently at the newly-redesigned Subic International Raceway here.
Pastor proved unstoppable as he left behind bitter rival Jody Coseteng at the start and pulled away midway through to wrap up the 15-lap afternoon race with a time of 32 minutes and 29.676 seconds, 2.610 seconds ahead of Coseteng of San Miguel Beer-Erg.
Petron Ultron-SRA skipper Kookie Ramirez, the Round 5 winner, finished third in the event sanctioned by the governing Automobile Association of the Philippines (AAP) and sponsored by The Philippine Star, Bendix Brakes, Rota Wheels, Johnny Walker, Smirnoff Ice, Atoy body kits, Gadgets & C! Magazines, Home Radio 97.9, DWIZ 88.2, KTC Tools and autoindustriya.com.
Louie Ramirez and lady driver Gabby dela Merced wound up fourth and fifth, respectively.
Kookie still leads the title race with 151 points while Coseteng moved to within three points at 148. Pastor, with 120 points, wrested third place from Philip Alvendia, who had a disastrous afternoon as his car turned turtle on the fourth lap.
Citing the exciting action, the huge supportive crowd and overwhelming turnout of 70 participating cars, PNTCC organizer and Race Fans Inc. president Richard Santos vowed to make the last two legs even more exciting.
Round 6 will be showcased in Slipstream TV hosted by Dominic Uy and Carlo Tirona on Sports Plus Channel today at 7 p.m.
The Group 3 race was even hotter as Miguel Lazaro of Velocity MotorsH&R-Race Fans Team took the spotlight from perennial winner and archrival Renan Morales of Shift Racing.
Lazaro clocked 34.44.045 to rule the race as Morales was forced to take the pits due to engine problems on the 10th lap.
Peewee Mendiola of Big Chill Racing bagged the runner-up honors while Menchie Francisco of Petron Ultron-SRA took third place. Ulysses Maningding and Rico Esguerra round up fourth and fifth, respectively.
