Engine tampering investigation ongoing; Cebu’s Sporting Class winners cleared

Vios Cup

ORGANIZERS of the Toyota Vios Cup have upheld the historic 1-2-3 finish of Team Toyota Cebu in the third leg last weekend at the Clark International Speedway in Pampanga.

However, tournament organizer JP Tuason confirmed to Cebu Daily News that an investigation is still ongoing with regards to engine tampering. That means, Cebuano ace racer Jette Calderon will have to wait a little while longer for his victory in the Super Sporting Class to be made official.

Tuason made no mention as to which cars are being given a second look by their technical team but vowed to complete the investigation and release the official results by week’s end.

Though Calderon is racing under Team Toyota Cebu, he is being handled by GM Motorsports, a racing team based in Parañaque.

Toyota Cebu Mandaue South and MR Automotive, a Cebu-Iloilo based performance shop based in Quezon City, meanwhile, handles Team Toyota Cebu. This means that Calderon’s racing operations are being handled separately from Team Toyota Cebu.

Cebu can achieve more

Team Toyota Cebu made waves last weekend when Sean Velasco, Lord Seno and Oscar Suarez won all the podium spots in the Sporting Class. Velasco was spectacular during the final race as he came roaring back from last place in the starting grid to take the checkered flag.

Seno, the team’s skipper, said that Cebu motorsports can achieve more if only it had access to a proper motorsports facility.

“Nobody from the South has dominated a motorsports event that strongly. It only means that Cebu made a mark in a national event,” Seno said.

“If only Cebu had a proper motorsports facility, then we can continue the tradition of molding ‘proper racers’ and curb illegal racers who race in our streets. Kartzone is just too small,” he added.