2009 Tough Truck Challenge

The ninth year of Tough Truck Challenge by Manila Off-Roaders Inc. (MORI) attracted 61 off-roaders from Northern, Central, and Southern Luzon and even as far as Negros Occidental to a new venue this year - McKinley Hill. This year's tracks were unusually absent of mud pits, but it sure was as challenging and exciting as previous years' tracks.

The fastest driver in track A was Hirryan Mendiola from the Angeles City 4Wheelers with a time of 1m44s. Isabela Extreme's Bong Collado came in second, consuming 1m49.34s to complete the entire track. Nonoy Magtuto of Bicol Off-road Club settled for third after clocking in a mere fraction of a second more than Collado's time. Owning the 4th and 5th fastest time was Bobby dela Cruz of Isabela Extreme, and Ramon Uy of Bicol Off-road club respectively.

Making track B look just like a walk in the park was Tyrone Sicat of Nueva Ecija Off-roaders which conquered the track in 2m37.62s. Behind him was Jojo Sison of Isabela Extreme claiming the second-fastest time of 2m43.37s. Edison Dungca of Angeles City 4Wheelers rounded up the top three with a time of 2m52.56s. 4th and 5th fastest driver for track B were Red Diwa of Isabela Extreme and Roger Peyra of Bicol Off-road Club respectively.

On the championship day of the Tough Truck Challenge, tracks A and B were combined to make Track C to further test the off-roading skills of the 20 drivers which surpassed the first day of elimination. Conquering the top spot for track C was Bong Collado of Isabela Extreme with an unbelievably fast time of 5m58.66s. Coming in second was Boyie Doblada of BRO club with a time of 6m16.94s. Bobby dela Cruz, also of Isabela Extreme had the 3rd fastest time of 6m40.16s. Finishing with the 4th and 5th fastest time was Ramon Uy of Bicol Off-road Club and Red Diwa of Isabela Extreme respectively.

Taking the two out of three podium spots was Isabela Extreme as their very own Bong Collado captures the Tough Truck Challenge Title for 2009, clocking a total time of 11m08.12s, and Bobby dela Cruz claiming third with a total time with 12m04.38s. Slotting right in between them was Boyie Doblada of BRO club snatching away the second place with a time of 11m35.91s. The rest of the top 10 winners according to ranking are Red Diwa, Hirryan Mendiola, Manny Carbonel, Romer Mariano, Emerson M. Ortiz, Ramon Uy, Ricardo V. Magtuto.

The 2009 Tough Truck Challenge was supported by Colt 45, Manila Bulletin, RX 93.1, DP Chip, Motul, Motolite, Tridharma, Dupont, AutoIndustriya.com, Optimax, Jojo 4 Wheels Parts, Land Rover Phils, MA Wheels, Fuji Film, 199 Off-Road House, 112 LC House, Roadworth, General's Lechon, and Bilstein.

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