Monday, October 30, 2006 Davao racer outruns Lim By Jaime Frias II Sun.Star Correspondent
DAVAO City's Willy Torres pulled a surprise victory over record holder and defending champion David Lim in the one-on-one finals of the 4th Mayor Tommy Osmeña Cup International Drag Racing at the Cebu South Coastal Road.
The 51-year-old Davaoeño racer, with his Mitsubishi Evolution 1996 model, clocked 12.303 seconds to unseat Lim of DGL Motor Cebu.
"I can't express the feeling. The adrenaline is still there," said Torres of W Autosports.
Torres was expecting Lim to beat him, owing that Lim's Honda Civic hatchback is lighter than his car.
Good start
“I just concentrated," said Torres, who said it's his first time to race in Cebu City.
Lim went off to a good start from the Quick 8 to the final two races, brushing aside two engine failures, until his surprise loss to Torres.
Torres, on the other hand, came all the way to the final two, faced with a lot of pressure.
He had some launching problems but was able to catch up in the semifinals, beating W Autosports fellow Vanni Garcia of Manila after Torres clocked 13.70 seconds.
He clocked 11.33 seconds to beat Alaister Patiño of H3 in the Quick 8.
"I had a bad start in the first day in seventh place though I managed fifth in the first time trial," said Torres.
What went wrong
Lim, for his part, went wrong with his first gear that made him trail in the finals against Torres.
"Sa kambyo. Nakuslo ang kambyo sa first gear," said Lim, who still holds the record with a 10.3 second finish two years ago and a 10.6 second finish last year.
Lim had a best finish with 10.8 seconds this year during the qualifying phase at the South Road Properties.
"I was just unlucky in the finals, though I went shift on my way to the finals," said Lim. "Everybody was expecting that I would make it in first place."
Lim defeated Ferdinand Chua of ACR in the quarterfinals and Kupz H3 in the semifinals.
