2007 Honda Media Challenge Awards Night

Celebrating the longest-running media motorsport event, the Honda Media Challenge held its Awards Night last Friday, 15 February 2008, at the Forum Hall of the Airport Casino Filipino.

With a total of 84 championship points, Team Top Gear Magazine composed of Carmela Ortiz, Beeboy Bargas and Paolo Subido took home this year's top honors. Team Business Mirror composed of Andy Sevilla, Randy Cabañgon and Dino Datu finished in second place with 81 points. Third place was won by Team Auto Review composed of Ron de los Reyes, Kit Joaquin and Alvin Ng with 72 points.

For the Motoring category, Paolo Subido captured the Best Driver spot with a total of 72 points. Ferman Lao (Kotse.com, 63 points) and Beeboy Bargas (60 points) placed 2nd and 3rd place, respectively. Onyl Malabanan of Honda Club Philippines, swept all 3 rounds of the series, capturing the top spot for the exhibition category. The winners received trophies, medals, and numerous prizes.

Departing from the circuit format of the past two seasons, the 2007 Honda Media Challenge was designed as an Autokhana, combining the autocross and gymkhana motorsport disciplines. This format evened out the competition since emphasis was on driver skill and vehicle handling, combining both speed and precision driving. The challenge and excitement came from the ingenious track layouts with many twists and turns, which required strong mental concentration.

Six Honda Jazz VTEC 1500 manual transmission units were equipped with roll cages, racing seat and five-point harness for use as official competition vehicles. The vehicles were fitted with Yokohama Tires, while the batteries were courtesy of Motolite "Trusted na pangmatagalan."

The official fuel for the 2007 season was the new Petron XCS Complete Combustion System, a special formulation customized for Philippine driving conditions. The first gasoline powered by premium organic enhancers, Petron XCS delivers smoother acceleration and optimized power by keeping your engine clean and maximizing fuel consumption.

Other sponsors included Honda Philippines, Inc. for the generator sets, Pagcor Sports, JVC Mobile Entertainment Systems, Art & Image Technology for the car stickers, and IgerTech for the timing device and scoring system.

The Honda Media Challenge is an annual club event sanctioned by the Automobile Association Philippines (AAP) and organized by ADBM Resources. For more information about the event, call 9206944 or visit www.mediachallenge.info.