Rodriguez wins Maxxis 4×4 Ilocos leg
Credit to Author: MIKE POTENCIANO| Date: Sat, 23 Feb 2019 16:27:18 +0000
SAN ILDEFONSO, ILOCOS SUR: Four Wheelers Davao Team’s Joseph Rodriguez bagged the overall honors in last weekend’s Maxxis 4×4 Cup National leg by besting an impressive field here.
Organized by Team Ilocos Offroaders with the full support of Ilocos Sur Gov. Luis “Chavit” Singson, the national event was presented by the National Association of Filipino Offroaders (NAsFOR) and Maxxis Tires Philippines with Racetech 4×4 Suspensions, FCC Trading, WDM Truck Center and BCPE as major sponsors.
The dual qualifying held on Saturday saw Rodriguez top both sessions en route to his domination of the final run on the combined tracks on Sunday. The track was made up of shoulder-high mud pits, rock and tire pits, among others.
This was the only the second time that a 4×4 racer was able to sweep all three tracks in a NAsFOR national event, a feat that was first achieved in 2011 by Bicol Offroad Club racer and former NASFOR president Roger Peyra.
Rodriguez was very lucky to win the final run with less than 49 seconds ahead of second-placer Derrick Gahite of Manila East Offroaders. Gahite was always close to the times set by the Davaoeño but this time, he took more time winching in the mud pit area.
Derrick’s second-place finish was his second in a row after winding up in the same position a week earlier in Baler, Aurora, during the season opener of the NAsFOR 4×4 series.
Completing the top three was 2018 NAsFOR Driver of the Year and Baler’s champion Jherico Lara of Aurora Racing Team. Lara was only six seconds away from the Rodriguez in Track C but had a bad Track B qualifying time that brought him down by almost six minutes.
Nevertheless, his aggressive driving made him the darling of the crowd, crossing the mud pit without winching.
Fourth place went to local hero Froy Mendoza of Team Ilocos Offroaders who was about four seconds away from third-placer Lara. Fifth place went to Pampanga’s Edison Ton Dungca of the Kapampangan Racing Team. Dungca struggled in the first qualifying track but salvaged a good final run to get into the top five.
The Maxxis 4×4 Cup Philippines leg, held only for the third time in Ilocos Sur, has drawn off-road racers from Central and Northern Luzon, Eastern Visayas, Mindanao and Metro Manila. Since it was only a week since the previous leg in Aurora, some drivers didn’t have enough time to repair their rigs for the Ilocos Sur tilt among them Noel Bartolome Jr. and other big racers from Mindanao.
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