The team did it in style, finishing a strong one-two in wet conditions, with British driver Stuart McDonald finishing ahead of teammate Juny Binamira, in the afternoon race of the fifth leg of the PTCC series.

For much of the season, Tuason Racing, which races with Ford Focus vehicles, has been working hard to match the dominant and much lighter Honda Civics in the Group 3 Division of the PTCC series.

The Ford Focus race cars are 120 kilos heavier than the Honda Civic cars.

Although the wet conditions could have contributed to the breakthrough win, Ford and Tuason Racing could take heart in finally getting to the top of the podium. This could motivate the team to do even better next year with the lessons learned on how to maximize the potential of the Ford Focus this season.

This could certainly help encourage the sponsors to continue supporting the team, among them Ford Racing, Petron Ultron, Standard Insurance, Goodyear Racing, Ambi Pur, Schick, C! Magazine, Oakley, Rota Wheels, Tradeshow, Aguila Auto Glass, Acer, Starbright Body Kits, K & N Filters, Palmer Asia, A & R, Bilstein, Has Travel and Recaro.

"We’re thrilled with the performance of the whole team headed by team manager, Michael Tuason, chief engineer Pacho Blanco and Chief Mechanic Peter Lubon and of course the drivers, MacDonald and Binamira that only proved the competitive quality of the Ford Focus under the rain compared to the traditional racing car brands," said Glen Dasig, Sales & Marketing AVP of Ford Group Philippines.

"This is the same kind of experience and world-class performance the Ford Focus delivers on the road," Dasig said.

The win by MacDonald, a British expatriate in the country, snapped the nine-race win streak of Alvin Santos, one of the promising newcomers in touring car competition who’s leading in the rookie points race in the Group 3 class.

An account of the race from Tuason Racing said MacDonald was runner-up in the first race of the leg and led much of the second race while under pressure from Santos.

It should be interesting to watch the races on cable TV to see how MacDonald managed to the snatch the lead from Alvin who should have driven from pole position in the second race.

In only his second time seeing action for Tuason Racing in the series, Binamira showed he was a quick learner. Binamira even managed to take the lead for a short time after MacDonald slowed down after being hit from behind by Santos in a desperate attempt to overtake at the bus stop section of the Subic racetrack.

At the end of this auspicious race for Tuason Racing and Ford, MacDonald took the checkered flag just fractions of a second ahead of Binamira

We certainly would like to see Tuason Racing win a Ford to perhaps start a strong rivalry that could make touring car racing more exciting.