2013 Winds Formula Philippines Series 2nd Leg

A total of seven drivers participated in the 2nd leg of the 2013 Winds Formula

Philippines Series on June 1~2, 2013 at Batangas Racing Circuit (BRC). The 2nd leg was held

together with the Philippine GT Championship, the Classic Mini Racing Series, and the VW

Kafer Cup.

The Batangas Racing Circuit is a 3.7km

circuit located in Rosario, Batangas. Numerous

motorsport events, ranging from open wheel

racing, touring cars, to drag racing, are held in

this track throughout the year.

Apart from Sung Joon Park and

Jeremy San Diego, other participants were

Roby Benito (Philippine Rok 125cc class

Karting Champion) as well as veteran

Japanese drivers Takumi Kuroiwa (2012 Super-FJ Tsukuba Series Champion with 3 years of

Formula racing experience), Teriyuki Yoshida (2012 Super-FJ Tsukuba Series 1st

-Runner up),

Yousuke Yabushita (Formula Junior 1600 pilot), and Gen Yamaguchi (Super-FJ pilot).

The race follows the usual Formula 1 race format: Free Practice, Qualifying, and the

Race proper. 30 minutes of practice time are given to the drivers to warm the cars up and

prepare for the race. In the qualifying, the drivers are given 30 minutes to set the fastest lap

time around the track and this will determine their grid position at the start of the race. The

driver with the fastest lap time will be given the pole position (1st position on the grid),

followed by the next fastest driver and so on. In BRC, the race lasts for ten (10) laps around

the track (approximately 30 minutes) and the first driver to cross the start/finish line is the

winner or champion of the race.

At the conclusion of the event the race results were as follows:
Qualifying:

3rd-Sung Joon Park
6th– Jeremy San Diego

Race:
3rd-Sung Joon Park
4th-Jeremy San Diego

Race Report

The qualifying time trial began with immense pressure from the blistering time set

by the top two Japanese drivers Takumi Kuroiwa and Teruki Yoshida. Yoshida slip streamed to

the pole position and set a new course record of 1:45.275 while Kuroiwa had to settle for

second. Sung Joon Park was able to pull up a consistent time, but it was not enough to

challenge the veteran drivers Yoshida and Kuroiwa. Yousuke Yabushita gained fourth

followed by Rafael Benito in fifth in his first race. Jeremy San Diego qualified sixth after an

electrical problem forced him to pit and prevent him from finishing the session.

Gen Yamaguchi finally filled up the seventh and last position on the grid at the end of qualifying.Race:

When the starting lights went off, Rafael Benito made a fantastic start launching into

first position with Takumi Kuroiwa right on his tail. Polesitter Teruki Yoshida suffered from a

missed shift, Sung Joon Park steering to avoid a collision with Yoshida who was thus brought

down to fourth, with Park claiming third place behind Benito and Kuroiwa into the first

corner. Jeremy San Diego also made a good start but was accidentally blocked by Yabushita

swerving to avoid a car in front of him, almost causing a crash but was averted by San Diego,

bringing two wheels on the grass and shortly rejoining the track still in sixth.

Benito’s lead was short lived as he retired by the third corner of the first lap with a

gearbox problem. Park and Yoshida quickly recovered and were tailing Kuroiwa in the lead.

Nose to tail throughout every corner and banging wheels on the straights in fierce

dogfighting, Park was defending his position from the quicker Yoshida. By the end of the

second lap, Park and Yoshida caught up with Kuroiwa, becoming a three way battle for first

place. Meanwhile San Diego had overtaken Yabushita after the latter made a mistake and

spun out, rejoining the race in last place.

Yoshida kept the pressure on Park which led to Park’s mistake, leading to a spin out

on the first corner of the track on the third lap. Park dropped two more places when

Yamaguchi and San Diego passed him after his incident. Yoshida took second and soon

climbed to first, defending his position against Kuroiwa. Park brought the car back on track

and chased down San Diego and Yamaguchi, battling and overtaking both drivers to regain

third place. San Diego very narrowly avoided a collision with Yamaguchi, who spun out

shortly after having battled with Park.

After ten laps of intense racing, Yoshida took the checkered flag with Kuroiwa right

on his tail. Park followed in third, San Diego in fourth, Yamaguchi in fifth and Yabushita in sixth.

Words and Photos by: Sung Joon Park and Jeremy San Diego of Zebra Racing Team