Seven-time PNTC Champion Coseteng to compete in 51st Macau GP

Seven-time Philippine National Touring Car champion Jody Coseteng is all set for the drive of his life next month when he competes in the 2004 Macau Grand Prix on November 21. Coseteng got the nod of beer brewing giant San Miguel Corporation to suit up in the prestigious motoring event with the trade name and logo of its world renowned product San Miguel Beer. Team San Miguel Beer's Coseteng will also be supported by his local sponsor Caltex Havoline.

Coseteng will be driving a BMW 320i E46 which won the German round of the 2004 European Touring Car Championship Series. He is expected to dig deep into his vast driving arsenal when he races against the world's best circuit drivers on the demanding 6.2 kilometer Guia Circuit.

Coseteng's race machine is especially prepared by BMW Team Engstler and is one of three cars that will be fielded by the team crew in the Guia race. The car is equipped with 6-speed sequential transmission and carries 290 horsepower with a red-line setting at 11,000 rpm. Its 10-inch wide wheels will be mounted with Yokohama slicks with a special compound with stiffer sidewalls and center linings to handle the grueling twists and turns of the circuit. The prototype tires have been tested by the team's German engineers at the Hockenheim Ring and found to provide exceptional handling and traction. The car will be using Caltex Vortex fuel, Havoline engine oil and lubricants.

Coseteng will drive alongside team owner and manager Franz Engstler and the quick Thai driver Prutirat. Their cars will be serviced by German technicians from the BMW Autosport Munich Headquarters. The BMW Team Engstler fared prominently in last year's Macau GP where two of its drivers ended up 2nd and 3rd in the podium.

The Macau Grand Prix draws over a hundred thousand spectators yearly and is the biggest motorsports event in Asia for the past 50 years. There are a total of 10 races each year (8 for cars and 2 for motorcycles) and nearly a thousand personnel are deployed to address the event's security, safety, administrative and operational concerns. The event is widely covered by hundreds of media members (from TV organizations and journalists) from all parts of the globe and is telecast to over 4 billion households worldwide.

Coseteng will head off to the Asian motorsport capital a week before the event to attend the technical control and driver's briefing and to familiarize himself with the car and the track in the official practice sessions. The time trials will take place on November 19. For more information, call Xtremeworx at 63917-8992363 or email xtremeworx@hotmail.com.