Photo from Mazda Philippines
With its premium positioning over the last several years, Mazda has become more of a niche brand for discerning car buyers than one for traditional mass-market Japanese car buyers. An offshoot of this development is that the passion for the cars from Hiroshima has been distilled into an even more potent form.
And nowhere has it been more evident than at the recent Mazda Fan Festa Philippines 2024 Powered by Shell, when over 300 Mazda vehicles drove over to the Clark International Speedway. Patterned after the Mazda Fan Festa in Japan, the event is a celebration of Mazda’s motorsport legacy and its passionate community.
Event partners GT Radial, PartsPro, AAP, PIAA, Sonax, and Momo set up booths at the paddock near the track, while Shell Café, Ser Chef, Decimal Coffee, and Mendokoro Ramenba served up food and drinks the entire day.
After its debut at the Philippine International Motor Show, Mazda aftermarket accessories and performance brand AutoExe also showcased at Clark. Now an authorized distributor of this renowned line of Mazda tuning parts and accessories, Mazda Philippines paraded the CX-60, Mazda3, and MX-5—all fitted with AutoExe parts.
Setting Mazda Fan Festa PH 2024 differently from other motorsport experiences, Mazda owners had the opportunity to take their vehicles onto the 4.189-kilometer Clark International Speedway with the guidance of professional instructors and marshals. The event was also anchored by the final leg of this year’s Miata Cup and the Manila Sports Car Club (MSCC) Miata Spec Series.
The day-long festivities started with a parade of iconic Mazda sportscars, namely the first- and second-generation MX-5, the MX-5 25th Anniversary Edition, the MX-5 RF 30th Anniversary Edition, the MX-5 Mazda 100th Anniversary Edition, the #55 MX-5 Endurance Race Car, and a drift-prepped four-rotor RX-7.
Leading the parade was Steven Tan (Mazda Philippines president and CEO). He was joined by Takahiro Kobayakawa (Mazda Corporation Motorsports Head), Arvin Obmerga (Shell Pilipinas Marketing Head), Miguel Estrada (Shell Pilipinas Brand Manager), and racers Windy Imperial and Angie Mead King.
“It is Mazda’s aim to create a deeper bond between people and cars. Hands-on experiences like the Mazda Fan Festa PH helps foster this relationship,” said Steven Tan. “This is our largest annual event and it is one that shows the camaraderie of the Mazda community here in the Philippines. I would like to thank all our event sponsors, our dealer partners, and of course, all the Mazda fans and enthusiasts who made their way to the Clark International Speedway.”
King captivated the audience with demo laps of her third-generation Mazda RX-7. The fire-spitting sportscar features a 10,000-rpm four-rotor 26B engine sourced from New Zealand-based racer Michael “Mad Mike” Whiddett and a 6-speed sequential transmission.
After her demo runs, the morning activities ended with the Race 7 of the Miata Cup and MSCC Miata Spec Series.
In Class A of the Miata Cup, Walter Pineda finished first followed by Jaime Fanlo in second. In Class B, Enzo Villareal took the top spot followed by Bryle Reyes and Sandy Sandoval. In Class C, Nerwin Ordillano with Brian Donato in second and Keith Sundian in third. Finally, in the ND Stock Class, Earl Guce took first place with Lew Llanillo and Lauro Celestino in second and third, respectively.
Meanwhile, the MSCC Miata Spec Series was made more exciting thanks to the participation of two guest drivers: Matt Solomon, an internationally-renowned driver with experiencing at the Formula Masters China, European Formula 3, and GT championships and Takahiro Kobayakawa, Head of Motorsports for Mazda Corporation.
In Race 7 of the GT Radial Sportsman Class, Javier Toledo took first place followed by Enzo Celestino and Jeff Balao. In the highly contested Shell Pro Class, Tyson Sy took home the gold, followed by Juha Turalba and Gaby De la Merced. Finally, in the BRM Masters Class, Windy Imperial took first followed by Toti Turalba in second and Bong Brobio in third.
The afternoon activities started with Race 8 of the Miata Cup and MSCC Miata Spec Series.
In the Miata Cup Class A, Walter Pineda won followed by Jaime Fanlo. In Class B, Enzo Villareal finished ahead of Bryle Reyes and Sandy Sandoval. In Class C, Nerwin Ordillano took the top spot followed by Brian Donato and Keith Sundian. Finally, in the ND Stock Class, Lew Llanillo won followed by Lauro Celestino and Zandro Cueva.
Finally, for the MSCC Miata Spec Series Race 8, Jeff Balao won in the GT Radial Sportsman Class followed by Enzo Celestino and John Bornilla. In the Shell Pro Class, Tyson Sy took first, with Juha Turalba in second and Gaby De la Merced in third. In the BRM Masters Class, Windy Imperial once again won, followed by Toti Turalba and Jean Dejardin.
After all the races and competitive track experiences, the entire Mazda community united with the Mazda Sunset Parade. Serving as Mazda Fan Festa PH 2024’s culminating event, it is a show of the unwavering passion that Mazda enthusiasts have in the country.
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