Out with the Red, In with the Blue

From this:To this:


Yep, you are right, ran around the track with the hood half open. lol! where do you think did the theme came from? hmmm...


lol!, not really! hahaha... its pure coincidence that i bought a slide for my son with the same theme. Its really a copy of this:


a friend from MLPH was looking for somebody to be sponsored. Originally, I was not included in the sponsorship. I was a third stringer i would say. It was originally offered to Mark Arce, but Mark can't commit that he will be completing the 2012 circuit showdown season so it was referred to Philip Velasco, Philip was also on the same predicament, only he's selling his race car Black wing.

December of 2011, getting a call from Philip that he just rejected the offer and that he and Ulysses Paredes nominated me as the filler for the last slot was a great christmas gift from them. Thanks to you guys!!! Mark Arce included!

and to share Roxy's decal with Liqui Moly.




Liqui Moly Products really performs on extreme environment, its really worth your money:
I would recommend the following:
1. Engine oil - Toptec 4100 5w-40 - i actually have a leak on my turbo, when i was using a different brand, the oil coming from the turbo was excessive after 5 laps (you could see oil dripping after a session), but when i used the Liqui moly toptec 4100, the oil leak was next to negligible (no dripping of oil).

2. Octane booster - Octane Plus - Helps increase hp and reduces knocking

3. Ceratec - ceramic coating used in WTCC. I noticed that the oil temperature takes a lot longer to heat above 130 degree celsius. My baseline is a synthetic Shell Helix which usually overheats after 10 laps in BRC but with liqui moly ceratec and engine oil, i could push more than 15 laps without overheating the oil, and the one who's overheating was me after the 15th lap. lol!

LIQUI MOLY FTW!

Philippine Endurance Cup

Some links you might want to read up:

From Kotse.com
http://www.kotse.com/home/index.php?option=com_k2&view=item&id=517%3Aanim-na-oras-ng-pilipinas-2011&Itemid=166

From HotBits
http://www.hotbits.org/motorsport-detail.aspx?id=18

From Philippine Star
http://www.philstar.com/sportsarticle.aspx?articleid=757292&publicationsubcategoryid=69

From Remate
http://www.remate.ph/2011/12/anim-na-oras-ng-pilipinas/


Of course all the documentations were pointing to who's the winner and all, but i hope you guys were there on the event itself, to see and feel the spontaneity of the event.

Drama is a word that would be able to sum it up.

Half way through the race, driver change happened. I'm the next one after Mark Arce, I never really thought that there would be any overtaking thats going to happen. Before me there were'nt much of overtaking but things get heated up when we were trying to gain laps from the 2nd placer on FM2. During the whole time, I was on track i was able to pull a lead of 3 laps and yet our pit crew were saying im behind by 2 laps... The manager was wanting me to push another 2 more laps before i pit in and have a driver change...

I kept pushing the car, i was giving feedback from time to time on how much fuel i still have and kept on reminding the pit about the health of my tires. I keep on saying "Tires are busted" over the radio. I really dont have a way to tell how much tire i have when running non stop and full throttle. All I know is that the car is not turning well and there's a certain feeling that the tires are not gripping.

I still kept on pushing already, gained 4 laps and then boom.... i was exiting the chicane and the front left tire burst. I lost 1 front tire and lost electrical power. I had to pullover. I tried checking the battery terminals hoping it just came loose but its not. I checked the fusebox and didn't found any blown fuse. I had to let the PIT now about this, I tried the radio but apparently the frequency has been changed unknowingly and i dont know my teams frequency. i have to walk to the pits and ask for some help.

And all of a sudden all 4 laps gained was lost, everybody thought that its the end of the race for MLPH MSC FM2 team but the team pulled it off. Thanks to Raffy! (Chief Mechanic) we just need to put the power back and have the car limp to the pit for tire replacement.

In short, Raffy was able to find the problem. There was a blown fuse! I have missed it big time.
I was able to limp the car back to the pits for tire change but the car was plagued due to an open wire caused by the blown tire. it kept on bugging the driver after me. It has to be pitted in again and cover the wires. After that the car ran smooth again.

BUT we were already lagging behind by so many laps that we were only on the 3rd position for FM2.

Moral of the story:
Prepare - had it been known the tires capability before the race, we could have approximate the number of laps before it bursts. Simulation was key and most scenarios should be covered.

No procrastination - all things that can be done ahead of time should be done ahead of time.

Objective should be same for the whole team.
Some participate to be part of history. Some are trying to create history.

December 4 "D" Day

December 4 2011 was a special date. There were two special events for me. One is that its my dad's birthday and the other was the Philippine Endurance Cup. Yes, Its my first time to attend such a race, 6 hours non stop race to be specific. I'm one of the 6 drivers for the FM2 bracket but before sharing the details on the event itself, i'll share the preparation first.

Initially MLPh MSC only intend to join the event on one specific bracket - RP Class. The only limiter are the tires and anything and everything can be done on the car. "All out" bracket.

MSC looked for an ex taxi and converted it into a race car by changing the engine from a carburated 1300 cc SOHC 8 valve to an EFI 2000cc DOHC 12 valve engine. (4g13 to 4g63). The engine was the same engine Tammy has. The race car found sponsors for the paint, chassis work, suspension. The engine though was transplanted by the team. Thanks to BA Autoworks, Walter Lights and Sounds, HotBits Suspension, Jywell Autoglass and for all the people who spent their time putting the car together Jun Alavaro, Don Andaya, Lewy Manio, Patrick Sison, Jed Berones, Philip Velasco, those are the people i knew worked with the car. if i forgot somebody, message me and i will update this.

2 weeks before "D" Day, MSC invited all the potential drivers for a qualifying. They chose the drivers based on repeatability. 12 drivers were vying for 6 slots. We used Philip's 2006 Lancer called Black wing as the qualifying car. i drove for 3 laps. 2'18", then 2'16", then 2'15". I was able to clock in the fastest time for Black wing for that day. Unfortunately that was not the objective of the qualifying, so I was not picked for race car. Lewy, Walter, Ivan, Edwin, Chris and Patrick were chosen for the Race class and so, that was the end of qualifying. Jun, me, Don, Mark, Philip, Richard was not cut.

Picture this, black wing raced through BRC all day so as to choose the drivers for the race car. It literally ran for almost 6 hours without any problems. We joked Philip about running black wing on the PEC (Philippine Endurance Cup), and Ipe liked the idea and said "i'll think about it". after 5 minutes of the whole team influencing Ipe, by saying some remarks that all the 6 drivers would give 5K each for BW's preparation for PEC. Finally Ipe agreed. Black Wing will run on PEC FM2 class. (below 160 hp, doors should be intact and with AC)

and that's how all the 12 drivers get to drive for MLPH.