Record turnout of 130 cars at PDRF Denso Iridium Power X-Drags

A record 130 cars participated in the Denso Iridium Power X-Drags at the Manila Harbour Centre which saw the launching of their new Iridium Power spark plugs in the Philippines. Denso used the most popular motorsport as a proving ground for its breakthrough spark plug featuring state-of-the-art technology by being the world's only 0.4mm iridium electrode spark plug.

As the time trial runs were being made, each car tried to clock in their best times. The Autoplus Silver Bullet with a B16A normally-aspirated powerplant was one of those cars. It clocked the best time of 12.75 sec. Car after car followed on in their time trial runs as they tried to make lower times.

Many participants in the race purchased Denso Iridium Power Sparkplugs to improve their car's performance. Several drivers claimed improvements in their quarter-mile times. An additional improvement to the track surface in the form of VHT Trackbite was sponsored by Autoplus and Matonetics to add extra grip.

The race had many delays however because of the absence of a tow truck to move stalled vehicles that would break down on the drag strip. Causing the first long delay of at least 45-minutes was a broken down car at the end of the track which couldn't be removed since there was no tow truck.

Just as the Street Stock cars fired down the track 16-seconds and higher. Another delay, there was another breakdown just after the finish line. Hence, another long delay. After the clearing of the broken down car, race was resumed.

Present at the event were the all-star teams and racers of Philippine drag racing; Autoplus, Prodrive of Cagayan De Oro City, Team R Specs, Bagspeed, and Redline Racing to name a few.

Notable cars were Redline's most popular car - the Nissan Skyline GT-R which clocked the best time of 11.2 seconds, the Autoplus' Quickest Streetcar - White Samurai Evo VI didn't do well due to clutch problems, Vic Pena's Kansai Warrior Evo V also had clutch problems. Prodrive Cagayan De Oro's Civic Hatchback owned by Cap Chavez clocking 11.5 seconds on the quarter-mile with 394hp dyno'd at the wheels and the rotary-powered Kendall car from Baguio which shattered eardrums with its ear-piercing exhaust notes.

As usual, the event ran until the next morning as racers continued to battle it out all night long.

12 photos