Pastor collars 2nd place win in Thailand
The bad luck of Filipino international race champion Don Pastor was finally broken with a superb second place finish in the second race of the third leg of the TA2 Asia series staged last weekend at the Bira International Circuit, Pattaya, Thailand.
The short and technical 2.41-kilometer Bira track proved Pastor’s racing skills as his car was repeatedly bugged by electric problems.
“I never give up and fight hard until the finish line, you never know what can happen in a race,” said a very happy Pastor after the second race. “I only had four practice sessions and the others had about two weeks of running. With my electrical problems in the first race, this second place in the final race was a great reward for the team’s hard work.”
Despite electrical problems from his race car, Don Pastor was able to collar a second-place finish in the second race of the third leg of the TA2 Asia series staged last weekend at the Bira International Circuit, Pattaya, Thailand. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO
Luckily, Pastor’s Philippine-themed car was sorted out just in time after his crash in the previous Bangsaen Street race.
“The car was being difficult to set up due to my crash in my previous race in Bangsaen. I had to re set-up the car from scratch, which ate all the time during practice,” explained Pastor. “I had to settle for fourth place in qualifying [for the first race], which is not bad given the situation.”
In the first race, Pastor couldn’t match the pace of the leaders because of an electrical problem that was causing his engine to misfire. Craig Corliss and Grant Supaphong took first and second place, respectively.
Gregory Benett came in at third. Pastor was chasing him until the yellow flag was waved with four laps to go that forced him to brake hard. This caused Pastor to go off the track and this damaged his car’s shifter linkage. His transmission got stuck in third gear and he settled for fifth place at the end of the race.
Pastor again started at the fourth sport in the second race and still got bugged by electric problems. But he still held on to fourth as the race progressed until two drivers in front of him spun out, enabling him to climb and finish at second place.
Michael Freeman took first place.
“I want to thank our team principal, Tom Pastor, for pursuing the dream to Le Mans and NASCAR. Having the Asian V8 Championship Philippine series ladder program will be our ticket to these events,” he said.
“Huge thanks to our supporters and sponsors Bench, PCSO super lotto, Asian V8 Championship, Amerasian Fragrance Racing and the FIA. I also would like to acknowledge Philippine Sports Commission and all the supporters who watched the race and following of Don Pastor Racing,” Pastor added.
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