2012 Philippine GT - Round 3

The Philippine GT Series returned to the Batangas Racing Circuit for the third round of the championship. The six-round series runs in alternate at both the Batangas Circuit and the Clark International Speedway. GT300 frontrunners Jody Coseteng, Stefano Marcelo and Vincent Floirendo are now joined by seasoned driver Jojo Silverio who returns to touring car racing after a brief hiatus. After dismal results in the first two rounds, TRS drivers VM Kaikkonen and Mike Tuason seems to have decided to skip this leg and maybe the series.

Marcelo set the pace for qualifying with a blistering 1:48.323 laptime in wet conditions. Following more than a second behind was Coseteng with 1:49.909 for the second grid spot, while Floirendo's 1:49.964 was good enough for third. It was still Dwight Kevin Carlos led the GT200 class followed by his father Arnel and Willie Torres in third.

In the 10-lap Sprint race, championship leader Jody Coseteng got away at the start slotting himself ahead of Marcelo going into the first corner for the lead and never looked back. Marcelo however tried to close in and ended up more than half a second behind. Floirendo rounded up the GT300 podium in third, three-and-a-half seconds behind the leader. Dwight Kevin Carlos won the GT200 class ahead of his father Arnel. Don Don Portugal and Micky Kim won the GT130 and GT100 classes respectively.

Floirendo tried to make up for lost points from the first round after being DQ'd for going over the 300-horsepower limit. A combination of consistent driving and a properly set-up car fueled his runaway victory finishing nearly 6.5-seconds ahead of Stefano Marcelo. Jody Coseteng ran a close third but was later excluded for going over the power limit by a mere .02 horsepower. Bobby Unson was also excluded for going over the power limit. Jojo Silverio was excluded for both races for pulling his car out of parc ferme without the scrutineer's approval.

Dwight Kevin Carlos has Peter Kim to challenge him in the GT200 class as they finished less than half a second apart. Arnel Carlos rounded up the podium in third. Allen Macaraig won in the GT100 class.

The series moves to the Clark International Speedway for its fourth round with the top three contenders for the GT300 class virtually stuck together in the standings.

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