Motor Image Pilipinas, the exclusive distributor of Subaru vehicles in the Philippines, acknowledges the individuals who made it to the top 10 of this year’s Subaru Palm Challenge: Philippine Face-Off.
It was a stormy Saturday morning last September 21 and more than one hundred aspirants competed to outlast each other and endured fatigue to be the last person to keep his or her palm on one of the four new Subaru Foresters. The day brought excitement with the unpredictable weather condition that shrouded BGC’s Amphitheater. Experienced competitors Rheden Pinoliad and Mark Joseph Trinos, both part of the 2017 PH team, didn’t make it to this year’s roster.
The unforgiving weather narrowed down the competitors to the ten after 8 hours, but all of them held their ground until the last second. Newbie Cyrus Corpuz outgunned last year’s Regional Palm Challenge Country Runner-up Juntie Flores. Only 3 from the 2018 PH team made it this year, spearheaded by last year’s Country Winner, Filmark Bernante, along with long-time team Captain Carlo Talahib, who has been donning the PH colors for 8 years already. Mark Guballa, also a veteran, placed seventh in this year’s run. The competition’s highlight, however, was the battle between veteran Reggie Purugganan and newcomer Nikko Blancada. Purugganan was able to bag the award by besting Blancada by just over 9 seconds.
The 10 Filipino finalists are now set to represent the Philippines in the final round of the Subaru Palm Challenge from November 2 to 5 at Singapore. The 18th edition of one of Asia’s largest and toughest endurance competitions will be held at Ngee Ann City Civic Plaza. Is this the year where a Filipino beats the current record time of 82 hours and 16 minutes to win the crown and drive home a New Subaru Forester? Let’s all show our support to Subaru Team Philippines this coming November as they battle it out against four hundred participants from Singapore, Cambodia, China, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Taiwan, Thailand, and Vietnam.
