From temporary to extraordinary
The 2025 Toyota GAZOO Racing eSports GT Championship was nothing but a success.
Now in its fifth year, it has flourished to be a local phenomenon capturing the attention of thousands of racing enthusiasts and sim players alike.
After more than 250 participants from across the country competed for the fastest time, the top winners were finally determined.
From this pool, only 40 players advanced to the quarterfinals, held last October 11 and 12 at the Ayala Malls Manila Bay in Parañaque City.
From the 40, it was down to 20 sim racers who competed head-to-head in their respective rigs before finally reaching the final stages.
After the intense sim racing battles, the top winners were as follows: champion: Victor Ancheta; second place: Enzo Ison and third Place: Matthew Ang.
These top drivers earned a spot on the Philippine team for the TGR Asia eSports GT Championship set to happen in Thailand next month.
“I could not believe it. I was hailed champion when I only expected third or fourth or even tenth coming into this competition,” shared Ancheta.
“Competition was intense. There were lots of very good sim racers. I’m just so happy to be here,” added the young prodigy.
Extraordinary for something meant to be only temporary.
Borne during the height of the pandemic that hindered face-to-face interactions and activities, the program has surely developed to be something quite extraordinary.
“This started in 2020 when we could not hold a physical race. We are glad that the program has grown tremendously for something we only envisioned as a temporary replacement of the physical races,” divulged Toyota Motor Philippines vice president for marketing services, Elvin Luciano in an interview right after the e-race.
“Today, it has its own program catering entirely to a new group.”
Furthermore, according to him, they were able to reach big numbers in terms of participation since they made the qualifying procedures more accessible to the public.
“We opened up select dealers as venues for simracers to join,” he said.
“The GR Garage, in particular, was a place where race enthusiasts, racing fans and practically everyone came together to celebrate the love for racing.”
Success stories
Moreover, Luciano even shared how the program has already led to success stories of sensational local e- racers.
“We are glad that we are also giving the same opportunity to these sim racers in the actual race tracks.”
“What we are so proud of when it comes to these Toyota Gazoo Racing e-Motorsports program are the actual success stories that we have gained,” he continued.
Last year’s TGR GT champion, Luis Gono, for one, has recently triumphed in the Novice Class of the Circuit Championships, coming out as champion this 2025.
“They are winning,” he enthused.
“They are a big part of the actual evolution of the program.”
For Gono, meantime, he was just elated for having his dreams of actually driving a real race car finally coming into fruition.
“I have dreamed of this for over a decade now,” the 30-year-old IT specialist said in an interview.
“Now, I’m just glad that my fellow simracers will likely get the same oppotunity as I did.”
For Luciano, it’s not just the program that is evolving but also the racers who are participating in this e-motorsports program.
“We are just happy to grow this community, making them stronger since we have lots of great Filipino talents in this area.”
