“Juha”, the One

Jose Antonio “Juha” Turalba has just recently captured the coveted overall crown of the 2023 Manila Sports Car Club Mazda Miata Spec Series. The 30-year-old former karting prodigy was recognized in front of special guests, relatives, the media, company executives, and fellow racers during a prestigious awarding ceremony held at the Manila Polo Club in Makati City.

Turalba, who, along with his father, Toti, dominated the field of more than 20 seasoned racers in the BRM Chronographes Master Class, Shell Pro Class and the MSCC Miata Spec Series divisions. Juha was hailed champion in most of the divisions while the older Turalba bagged second place in the BRM Chronographes category.

“It was a really tight competition. Everyone was so competitive. There was no breather. I’m just glad we were able to make it on top of the podium,” shared the young Turalba in an exclusive interview with Inquirer Mobility.

“Last year, it was so difficult for me and my dad. But now, we were able to learn our lessons and we’re elated with the results,” he added.

The MSCC Miata Spec Cup Series is the country’s sole one-make sports car racing event. The racing series, which started last year, is a collaboration between Mazda Philippines and MSCC, the country’s premier sports car enthusiast organization. Here, the participants use a showroom-stock Mazda MX-5 2.0-liter, twin-cam, 16-valve inline-four Skyactiv-G gasoline engine, mated to a six-speed manual transmission, capable of 183hp and 205 N-m of torque. The suspension components have also been upgraded and reinforced with CUSCO sports coilovers and chassis braces.

Also, these vehicles use a custom stainless-steel exhaust system developed by local company Drift Xaust, along with customer 17-inch Rota alloy wheels wrapped with GTRadial Champiro SX2 high-performance tires. Safety-wise, they are equipped with a Sparco competition steering wheel, racing seat, harness, safety net and roll cage.

Compared to its inaugural year, the races this year were held, not just at the Clark International Speedway in Pampanga, but also at the Batangas Racing Circuit.

Mazda Philippines CEO and President, Steven Tan even shared, “This one-make format provides a unique opportunity for MSCC members to polish their skills and enjoy the pure essence of driving that only an MX-5 can provide.”

Formidable father-and-son tandem

The recent victory of the Turalbas was not just an overnight success, but a feat that was built for years. The older Turalba, himself an avid world rally fan, in fact, named his son after the famous Finnish multiple world rally champion, Juha Kankkunen.

“He was really a big world rally racing fan,” the young Turalba said.

“That is perhaps why I started my journey here in the world of racing.”

“I started racing when I was 10 years old,” he narrated further.

“It’s where my relationship with my dad started and eventually grew,” he continued.

“Before, he would be the one to set up the car and teach me about the lines. Now, it’s the other way around. It’s cool.”

Juha even said that karting eventually became “so serious” that he went on to become a national champion.

In 2008, Juha then became the Asian Karting Champion.

Career Crossroads

Juha then shared that when he was about to level up to the Formula racing series, his racing career had to suddenly take a backseat.

“Racing in the Formulas is so expensive. That time, it would take about $400,000 a year just to compete there,” he shared.

He then decided to take up Aerospace Mechanical Engineering in college at Boston University in the US instead. To make up for the frustrations in racing, he strived to work hard in the field of mechanics and eventually excelled.

After college, he shared that he had a thriving career working for a subsidiary of Boeing in a research and development center.

“I was one of the youngest project managers working for the US government that time. We would win several million dollar contracts.”

However, despite his brief success, he still felt that there was something lacking in his career.

“There was no growth,” he divulged.

After eight years of working abroad, he then immediately decided to come home and help in their family business.

They own a 55-year real estate business, where his father is the current president and CEO.

“I owe a lot of my success in racing to my dad. He taught me a lot. That’s why when I came back here we would just hangout a lot and talk about cars.”

When asked why he loved racing dearly, he said, “I enjoy the combination of technical mastery to develop the car together with the precision involved in driving smooth and fast at the limit.”

Eventually fate would have it that the year Juha came back from the US was also about the same time the famed Mazda one-make race series was first inaugurated. From thereon, the rest, they say, is history.