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| Terrence Lallave (Sporting Class), Johann Lance Padilla (Promotional Class) and Jose Altoveros (Media/Celebrity Class) will represent Team Philippines in the regional round of the 2020 GR Supra GT Cup Asia on October 25, 2020. (Image Source: Wheels.ph) |
From hundreds of aspiring and seasoned racers and motorsports enthusiasts from different parts of the country and after three intense rounds of virtual racing using the Toyota GR Supra via Gran Turismo Sport for the PlayStation 4, the overall champions of the GR Supra GT Cup Asia Philippines were crowned. After the dust was settled in the final round, Terrence Lallave and Johann Lance Padilla emerged as the fastest in the Sporting Class and Promotional Class categories, respectively, while Jose Alteveros was hailed as the overall winner in the Media and Celebrity Class. These three will represent the Philippines in the regional round hosted by Toyota Motor Asia-Pacific, Toyota Gazoo Racing and ONE eSports which will be streamed online on TMP's official Facebook page at www.facebook.com/toyotamotorphilippines.
Lallave, a 35-year old businessman and former racetrack instructor, competed in the Sporting Class comprised of e-racers with professional sim racing experience. "I'm actually surprised that I'm here right now and I'll be the one representing the Philippines. I'm very thankful to Toyota for bringing this opportunity because we could basically show what Filipinos can do in e-sports races. And it is a very good avenue for sim racing and e-sports in the Philippines to grow," said Lallave. Padilla, the youngest among the winners at 24 years old, is an airport mechanic who bested competitors with no professional e-sports background. He said, "I joined GR Supra GT Cup Asia Philippines because I think this is the chance I've been waiting for. Just last year, I told myself that Gran Turismo will lead me to places by playing and racing in it. When Toyota posted about this event that may lead to representing our country, I joined inmediately."
AutoIndustriya.com's Altoveros is no stranger to TMP's motorsports activities as the 25-year old writer and photographer won the Autocross Challenge in the 2019 Vios Racing Festival. "Aside from planning, I guess the only thing we can do is just to keep on practicing at home and race together. At the end of the day, it is a team race. Even if there's just one winner, we're all representing the Philippines and it doesn't matter who gets to the top as long as we raise the Philippine flag in the tournament," Altoveros said. Aside from the three, TMP also recognized and crowned Reph Bangsil and Russell Cabrera as winners in the Celebrity/Influencer and Junior classes, respectively.
"We are very thankful for the passion and enthusiasm of Filipino gamers and e-motorsports fans have shown during the course of our inaugural GR Supra GT Cup Asia Philippines. We expect the champions to do their best in representing our country well in the Asian Regional Round. We will continuously support them and hopefully their success inspires a lot more Filipino racers to pursue this sport that we can really excel in. Because of the success of the first season, we will seriously consider staging another tournament in the future," said TMP First Vice-President for Vehicle Sales Operations Sherwin Chualim.
