From left, race director Pepon Marave, Tradeshow International’s Sophie delos Santos, and Pace’s Kenneth Cobonpue, Jay Aldeguer Founder and Michael Lhuillier pose with one of the participating cars — a 1959 Chevrolet Corvette — in a press conference for the 4th Tour de Cebu at the Montebello Villa Hotel’s Glass House.
CDN PHOTO/LITO TECSON
THE 4TH TOUR de Cebu will have some international flavor as some members of the media abroad will be joining this annual Philippine historic sports car rally on Oct. 20 to 22.
The unique event is a 1,000-kilometer sports car rally across the Visayas, which is inspired by the Mille Miglia, a 1,000-mile open-road endurance race in held in Italy.
This year, members of the motoring media from Singapore and Barcelona, Spain, will be participating in the one-of-a-kind race from Cebu to Bohol and back. They are Rewind Magazine’s Eli Solomon and Angeline Khoo, and 9onceplus Magazine’s Oscar Perez and Stephane Vrinat.
Solomon and Khoo will be bringing from Singapore a 1959 Jaguar XK150 that has participated in various car rallies abroad, most notably the Louis Vuitton Classic China Run. Perez and co-driver Vrinat, on the other hand, will be driving one of the classic sports cars of the Performance and Classic Cars Enthusiasts of Cebu (Pace), which is one of the organizers of the race. The tour is also organized by the Manila Sports Car Club and managed by Tradeshow International.
Unlike speed races, the Tour de Cebu is a regularity event which must be completed in a pre-defined time and not in the fastest time possible.
Crossing the line early or late makes no difference since the participants will still gain penalty points. The car with the lowest penalty score wins.
The champion last year was Marty Aguilar, who drove a 1967 Toyota S800.
Pirelli, distributed in the country by the Cebu-based Southgate Express Marketing, Inc., will be the event’s presentor this year.
The Tour de Cebu activities will start on Oct. 19 at the Montebello Villa Hotel with the staging of the Tour de Cebu Car Show, which will feature the participating cars displayed at the hotel parking area.