Toyota Team Cebu bets Julian Neri (left) and Lord Seno (right) with a generation 2 Vios race car. | contributed photo Lord Seno
Cebu City, Philippines—Reigning team champions Toyota Team Cebu City will be fielding in a lean three-man team when the Toyota Vios Racing Festival Circuit Championship kicks off on June 8, 2019 at the Clark International Speedway in Pampanga.
The surprising development comes after TTC fielded in seven cars during the 2018 season.
TTC team captain Lord Seno revealed that two of the team’s stalwarts — Sean Velasco and Jette Calderon — are no longer racing this season as they focus on their respective studies.
“The two are concentrating on finishing school. Jette is a 4th year architecture student while Sean is in Airbus Flying School already,” said the veteran racer.
But while some familiar faces are out, in their place are promising drivers.
Still in the team is Clive Fermin, who will be racing in the Sporting Class after winning the Promotional Class last year.
Fermin however, will miss this weekend’s race because of scheduling conflicts and will instead suit up in the second leg this August.
The team’s new addition is 18-year old Julian Neri, who will be competing in the Promotional Class.
Neri is a noted karter, who is the son of Cebuano racer Justin Neri. He has racing genes in him, having won the MSDP young driver program called First Step Racing Series, a one make racing series for MSDP graduates using Toyota Vitz 1000cc race cars, according to Seno.
Seno, meanwhile, will continue his campaign for the crown in the Sporting Class.
He said that this lean squad will be a lot easier to manage but they still have a long way to go when it comes to getting used to the new Generation 2 Vios One Make Race (OMR) Car.
“It’s a new car and we just practiced with it yesterday, so we still have to get to know it. Other teams have already practiced a week ahead of us. That means we are still playing catch up,” said Seno. “It’s gonna be hard [to win] but [the] Cebuano fighting spirit will always be there.” /bmjo