Angeles man bags 1st Gov. Jun Ebdane 4x4 Challenge

Wednesday, August 24, 2011

BOTOLAN, Zambales -- Edison Dungca of the Angeles City 4-Wheel Drive Club Inc. topped the 1st Gov. Jun Ebdane 4x4 Challenge held here over the weekend, besting 23 other off-road racers with an impressive overall time of five minutes, 51 seconds and 40 milliseconds.

Dungca also clocked the fastest in the final track and championship round with a time of 2:06:36, offsetting his 3:45:04 finish in the two elimination rounds that earned him 2nd place in Day 1 of the two-day event.

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Boyie Doblada of the San Jose Del Monte 4-Wheelers Club followed Dungca with an overall time of 6:20:58, while former Pampanga 4th district Congressman Rimpy Bondoc came in third with an overall time of 8:37:46.

Despite a poor 10th place showing at Track A with 1:48:46, Dungca made up for lost minutes by finishing Track B with 1:56:18, just a second ahead of Doblada. At Track C, Dungca came up with the shortest time of 2:06:36, a full 19 seconds ahead of the next best time of 2:25:40 that was posted by JR Bartolome, also of the Angeles City team.
The other racers who made it to the Top 10 after last Sunday’s finals were: Jek Sason, fourth place, with a time of 9:12:20; Roger Peyra, fifth, 9:32:26; Pol Herrera, sixth, 10:57:08; Rey Herrera, seventh, 12:20:06; JR Bartolome, eight, 18:10:47; Resty Sambilad, ninth, 22:22:34; and Omer Dungca, tenth place, with 33:40:37.

Dennis Nacpil, event secretariat head and track designer, said that Omer Dungca, who at 14 years was the youngest racer in the event, clocked the shortest time in Track A and placed fourth in the championship track, but did not finish Track B, giving him an overall time that placed him in the 10th place.

The same was the case with lone woman contestant Maila Alivia, who placed third in Track A, 6th in the championship track, but was a DNF on Track B, placing her at 12th place overall.

Gov. Jun Ebdane, who is actively rebranding Zambales as a destination for sports tourism, expressed his pleasure over the outcome of the first event of this kind held in the province.

Ebdane also thanked the 23 racers who came from as far as Bicol, making the event a huge success. The participants included racers from the Angeles City 4-Wheel Drive Club, Pampanga Off-Roaders Club, San Jose Del Monte 4-Wheelers, Bicol Off-Roaders Club, Land Cruiser Club of the Philippines, Santiago Extreme, Cauayan Off-Road Club, Binangonan Rizal Off-Roaders, and the Suzuki Club.

“We have learned a lot from this event,” Ebdane said during the awarding ceremony on Sunday. “There are many things we can do – new activities that previously seemed impossible in Zambales – if we only set our mind and hearts to it.”

“If it’s off-roading, Kapampangans would always be there.”

So said members of the Pampanga Off-Roaders Club, Inc. and the Angeles City 4-Wheel Drive Club, Inc. as two of their prominent drivers ran away with honors in the 1st Governor Jun Ebdane 4x4 Challenge held here over the weekend in Zambales.