SUBIC – Kookie Ramirez of Petron-SRA upstaged defending champion Jody Coseteng of San Mig Coffee-Magnolia by winning two of the three races in the recent third leg of the 2008 Philippine Touring Car Championship at the Subic International Raceway here.
With his twin victory, Ramirez solidified his lead in the Group 1 division of this event organized by the Automobile Association of the Philippines (AAP) in cooperation with marketing and media partner Race Fans Inc. and sponsored by SEAOIL, Federal Tires, JVC, Nissan Grand Livina and Motolite.
Coseteng pulled a wire-to-wire triumph in the morning race but Ramirez staged a big comeback in Race 2 where he blew past the reigning champ in the second lap en route to winning the race.
In the final race, Coseteng set the early pace, taking the first two laps but Ramirez came back strong in the third lap and eventually pulled away from his fierce rival.
He posted a 300-meter margin over Coseteng.
Celebrity driver Gaby de la Merced of Big Shot Racing bagged third place in the first two races while Dennis Uy of SEAOIL-Velocity Motors took third place in the final race.
"It feels great that all the hard work and efforts we did yielded big results for us, and we’re happy things are working well for the team so far this season with the big support of our sponsors, mechanics and the crew," said Ramirez.
The Group 3 encounters, on the other hand, was even more exciting with Stuart MacDonald of Ford-Tuason Racing, Dominic Uy of Mighty Sports-Valvoline-Velocity Motors and Doby Atilano of Howroyd & Benjamin Racing winning separate races.
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