2024 Toyota Gazoo Racing Philippine Cup: An ultimate car person’s dream

The Toyota Gazoo Racing Vios Cup–now dubbed: “The Philippine Cup” has been running for about a decade already. Throughout that 10-year span, we’ve all heard of stories coming from seasoned drivers who have been behind the wheel ever since they started kicking those kiddie karts in arcade malls, race prodigies who have ever-dedicated stage parents forever backing them up, being their “rock” throughout their amazing careers, legendary professionals who needed another feather on their caps as addition to their vast living room display of shiny silverwares, so and so forth. Yes, we’ve all heard them and indeed we were all awed and inspired by these “seeming demi-gods” living among us mortals.

However, rarely do we get to hear stories from fledgling racers who are already in their 30s barely rocking their seats inside a race-ready Toyota Vios. This year’s edition of the Vios Cup showed us exactly just that–that it’s not too late to live out your dreams of actually racing a real race car out there on a real race track. This time, we lent an ear to those just trying their hands on an adrenaline-pumped vehicle going head-to-head, tooth and nail, with other equally hell-bent individuals gunning for positions out there on the searing battleground asphalt of the Clark International Speedway in Pampanga.

“The action from this race weekend was just absolutely thrilling. It was bumper-to-bumper action, emotions were high and tensions were even higher. But then, despite that, some people came up on top,” said Toyota Motor Philippines assistant vice president, Andy Ty.

“It was exciting to witness all of these firsthand. Other than season drivers, we also saw drivers out there on the track who were racing for the very first time. It ultimately became a car person’s dream,” he added.

Sim-racing to real racing

Speaking of an ultimate car person’s dream, we hear it straight from the horse’s mouth, none other than 2024 Novice Class Champion, Russel Reyes.

“I’m just very happy to experience this whole thing. I can’t imagine that I’m a race car driver already. Not a sim-racer anymore,” shared the 22-year-old race data analyst who began his circuit racing career just this year.

“I’m teary-eyed, just grateful to Toyota Motor Philippines and Tuason Racing.”

For this virtual racer, he said that the experience ought to be remembered throughout his lifetime.

“I’m cherishing every moment here.”

A dream that started 10 years ago

Autoindustriya’s Jamil Lacuna, who likewise started his racing career in sim-racing, shared the same sentiments with Reyes.

“It was 10 years ago that I started dreaming of racing in the Vios Cup,” he said in a statement. Back then, he shared that he first witnessed an actual Vios Cup race at Mckinley Hill in Taguig, one of the venues of Toyota’s one-make race when it was first starting in the country. The then 19-year-old college student pursued his passion for motorsports through the virtual world.

“Now, it’s a dream come true,” shared Lacuna, who finished the 2024 season just behind Reyes.

“It has been an amazing season. Thank you Toyota. One of the best racing series ever.”

Surreal for this female newbie

For 31-year-old influencer, Lexi Mendiola, meanwhile, everything that she has experienced on the race track has just been surreal.

“It has been a dream. I can’t believe I was able to do this,” she shared.

“It’s just the most surreal thing I’ve ever done.”

In fact, according to her, there are only three female drivers out of the 35 racers out there on the track.

“Despite that, we’re rocking it on the podium,” she elated.

Having experienced the Autocross Challenge last year, she even divulged, “It’s a world of difference. Here, out on the track, it’s how you mix all the factors involved in it.”

“It’s a lot of mind games.”

Crazy, crazy experience

For celebrity Reph Bangsil, who was hailed a champion in his division in Toyota’s Autocross Challenge 2019 and 2023, the experience was just “out of this world.”

“It’s a crazy, crazy experience to be a circuit driver,” he shared. According to him, he basically had to climb from the bottom.

“It’s my second podium here. I’m just speechless.”

Racing president

Picking up from where his mentor, former TMP president Michinobu Sugata, the person who started this whole Vios Cup thing in the country about a decade ago, left, current company head honcho, Masando Hashimoto is truly following in his footsteps.

“It’s really different when you’re actually experiencing racing on the ground or onsite,” shared Hashimoto.

“Here, you get to really feel what the racers are feeling, the adrenaline, the actual racing action on the track, everything,” added the first-time 46-year-old racer.

“It’s from here that you get to actually appreciate everything about the car, the racing, the competition and what we’re actually doing, what we’re trying to accomplish at the end of the day through our motorsports program.”