Ace driver-journalist Milo Rivera dominated churned out dominating performance as the much-awaited GITI-Formula V1 Challenge series finally kicked off its 2022 edition over the weekend at the Clark International Speedway in Pampanga.
Although torrential rains brought about by Typhoon Paeng provided a different kind of challenge to its participants, it did not hamper any of the thrilling high-speed action.
In fact, it made it even better.
A total of 12 drivers fielded one of the premier circuit championships in the country with Rivera of Frontrow Racing – Edgesport sweeping all three races of the weekend in the top tier PRO Class against his closest rivals John Dizon of Obengers Racing and Joaquin Garrido of Obengers-OTR Motorsport.
Although qualifying second during the time trials to Garrido, the five-time “Driver of the Year” had a bit of luck on his side during Race 1.
After an intense battle for the lead during the earlier stages of the Saturday thriller, Garrido committed a mistake on lap 6 which ultimately handed Rivera the win and also pole position for Sunday’s Race 2.
“Today’s win showed we have the advantage in pace, it’s just a matter of producing this consistently and more convincingly with two more races to go.“, said the Petron-sponsored driver after the Race 1 win.
Race 2 witnessed a continuation of where Rivera and Garrido had left off with the Obengers-OTR bet making a great start off the line, stealing the lead from Rivera before reaching turn one. Both ace drivers duked it out for the lead once again up until lap 4. Rivera eventually took matters into his own hands by making a crucial overtake to re-capture the lead and this time, leaving Garrido behind.
Storybook finish
Rivera, motoring section editor of the Manila Standard, ultimately crossed the checkered flag a good 2.5 seconds ahead of Garrido, with Dizon finishing third.
The final race (Race 3) of the triple-header saw the most dramatic and exciting action of the whole race weekend. With Rivera starting on pole once again, he was quickly out-positioned off the line, falling to third place before reaching the first corner.
Immediately taking advantage of the jockeying was Dizon who took a commanding lead after the first lap, with Garrido and Rivera having to continue their battle once again for second place. With Dizon seeming to have the quickest initial pace, he further built on his lead while the two behind him were continuously juking it out corner after corner.
After a couple laps of dicing, Rivera eventually overtook Garrido on the third lap which gave him the clear view and momentum to chase after the front-runner Dizon, who was around 4-5 seconds ahead at that time.
Unfazed by the distance and the dangerously heavy downpour, Rivera inched his way closer to the lead.
It eventually took the Frontrow – Edgesport driver four laps before he made his way right on the tail of Dizon and it did not take long for him to capitalize on a gap along Porsche Corner (turn 4) of lap 7, swiftly punching his way to the lead and immediately leaving Dizon behind.
The timing of Rivera’s overtake proved to be decisive as the race ended under the safety car two laps after due to the extensive downpour which officials deemed was “unraceable conditions” already.
A jubilant Rivera described Race 3 as a “race for the storybooks”.
“At first, I admittedly thought that second place was going to be the best case scenario. Yet I immediately collected and convinced myself that it was going to be a long race and that I had the capability to make a comeback. After all was said and done, I couldn’t help but shed a tear since for me, it will be considered as one of my most memorable races—weekends for that matter“, he added.
“With so much to thank, I’d like to give huge respect to my fellow competitors as well—you guys made it an amazing spectacle for all to witness. As always, we continue to push for greater things and I’m definitely excited for what’s next!”, Rivera said on a social media post as he then sets his sights on the title-deciding endurance weekend this coming Nov. 26-27 also at Clark International Speedway.
Meanwhile in the series’ AM class, it was Raceform – Autoholic Garage’s Sebastian Sotto who took top honors as he also swept the three races in his division against fellow competitors Dondi San Jose, Bryan Co, and Paolo Ayo.