I’ve been a massive motorsport enthusiast for as long as I can remember. Starting with Formula 1 (as with most kids), my taste expanded to endurance racing, GT sports cars, and touring cars—anything with four wheels going around in circles while fighting for positions.

Unfortunately, I did not have the opportunity to visit local tracks and watch any grassroots racing series mainly because any tiger parent wouldn’t want to let their teen venture outside Metro Manila. Being part of any racing series has been a longtime dream for me, even in my mid-twenties.

Then, a call invited this kid to participate in a tryout for this season’s Toyota Gazoo Racing Philippine Cup. I didn’t hesitate to accept.

This wasn’t my first competitive rodeo in a Vios Cup car. In 2023, the one-make racing series brought back the Autocross Challenge for media and influencer personalities in its second season. Since various people within our publication had entered in the year prior, VISOR joined the sporting class with my name on the list.

However, I was a fresh face starting his first year in motoring media, pitting me against more experienced drivers. Nevertheless, I took on the challenge with an open mind, and in the end, I bagged second and fourth places in the first and the second rounds, respectively.

Unfortunately, a week before the final round, I tested positive for COVID-19 and had no choice but to stay out. At that point, I thought my track days would be limited to racing sims as the 2024 season ditched autocross entirely for a new Novice Class filled with past autocross winners.

For this season’s GR Philippine Cup, two drivers from that category—Russell Reyes and Jamil Lacuna—were promoted to Sporting Class, leaving the lowest category free with three extra slots. Hence, this tryout happened just a week before the first round.

The lineup of entrants was still a mystery as I only knew that Luis Moreno, a two-time Toyota GR GT Cup finalist, was joining from a Facebook message. That morning, I entered the Tuason Racing School conference room to find other fellow media correspondents, influencers, and sim racers waiting patiently for the tryouts to begin.

We were greeted by local motorsport legend JP Tuason who guided us in racing sportsmanship and presentability throughout the day. The first half was spent warming up to the Vios Cup cars with a drag race, a gymkhana, and a three-lap track walk-through. After that, the top nine aspirants would be chosen.

First in order was gymkhana, a test of agility and compliance. Laid out on the main straight was a row of cones for the slalom portion, and, on the far end, were two gates to lead the drivers back to the first pylon. After that, we turned right into the final corner and braked as much as possible to land inside a box.

While the front cone already indicated where I needed to enter (pointing toward my right side), my mind was fixated on which ones I had to pass through after the wide U-turn and the exit to the braking zone. Thankfully, I passed both runs with flying colors and without tipping over pylons this time.

The next phase was the drag race, a simple sprint from the drag course start line to the track finish line. It wasn’t a test of straight-line speed as all vehicles had roughly the same output. Rather, our launch reaction time was evaluated when the five red lights went out.

I was pitted against Moreno for our runs. At first, due to his car weirdly mis-shifting (in a CVT, mind you), I was quicker off the line. Afterward, the sweltering heat forced me to turn the air-conditioning on, and forgetting to switch it off cost me my lead in the second run.

Now, it was time for the track tour. The first time I had driven the circuit was during a controlled media drive where it was more of a casual track day than an exercise to push hard. Curbing the apexes in a Ford Mustang had been very new to my body, and even then, I still couldn’t believe I got to do it again in a race car.

The three-lap walk-through entailed a guide car in front of four racers to teach the proper racing line. The instructor ramped up the speed after a lap, and as easy as that sounds, some couldn’t catch up to the change in pace, and this created a sizable gap.

During my run, my eyes were laser-focused on the vehicle in front, and the biggest challenge was facing the g-forces which my stomach couldn’t handle as a passenger. However, since I was in control of steering and acceleration, the experience was more fun and exhilarating (and less nauseating).

After the first track sessions, we reconvened in the TRS room waiting anxiously for the results. As a self-critic, I believed my day would conclude there, and I felt fortunate to have that experience. JP Tuason took center stage to announce the top nine, and my heartbeat silently kicked into full force.

For some reason, my name was called.

I was one of the lucky nine individuals who reached the next stage, and all that anxiety swept away for a moment until the physically demanding portions came. First, there was a simple planking exercise to see who could hold that position the longest.

Newspaper writer Ronald de los Reyes achieved an astonishing six minutes and 15 seconds, with Moreno right behind at four minutes and 20 seconds. On the other hand, I managed to time in at two minutes and 12 seconds, which, for the record, wasn’t a last-place effort.

Following that, they conducted another track walk-through, this time on a one-on-one basis. Two laps were dedicated to following the lead instructor where it was more in-your-face than flowing within a congo line. However, the ‘training wheels’ were removed once we rolled into the pit lane.

At first, I kept staring into the corners like a deer in headlights, so I had to snap out of it on the braking zone and remember my line. I’ll never forget going through Turns 14 and 15, clipping the curbs with little brake input and more balls than in Assetto Corsa.

The gravest mistake I made was disregarding the radio calls. On the final lap after the penultimate corner, drivers must slow down on the final straight before entering the pits, as instructed over the walkie-talkie. Combined with hyper-focusing on the driving line and the loud exhaust, my ear faintly picked up the loudspeaker at the last minute.

As viewers, it’s easy to pick out radio conversations between drivers and their engineers thanks to broadcasting technologies and race directors. As the helmsman, you need to make room in your ear canal for any word from the pits to reach the eardrum.

The last challenge of the tryouts came in the form of a post-race press conference. Drivers would have to act as if they won a race and be prepared for questions from the pressing media. The anxiety slowly crept back as my habits of overthinking and stuttering would hamper my speech ability.

Sure enough, my fears came to light. My attempts to answer questions paled in comparison with how my fellow finalists spoke confidently and at ease. I left the faux media pen feeling overwhelmed by my blunders.

As the Friday sun left for the rush-hour traffic, I left the track feeling defeated but slightly hopeful—at the very least.

The results came in the following week, and…well, you can tell from the title that I didn’t make it to the top three. The lucky individuals who get to race for the entire season are Moreno, Daily Tribune writer Ian Magbanua, and content creator Arianne Bautista.

Frankly, I knew I wasn’t racing weekend material after fumbling with the radio response time and the media preparedness while lacking the physical strength to endure three days on track. I thought, “It’s impossible that I could reach that world of racing while still figuring it out virtually.”

That being said, I enjoyed and cherished every minute of it. Getting a chance to rip a race car around the full circuit had been a longtime bucket-list dream that I’d never imagined in my lifetime, and it wouldn’t have been possible without TMP’s relentless support toward the local motorsport scene.

In my heart, I hope that this opportunity will come once more, but my body needs to be ready by then.