Kaikkonen wins back-to-back in Round 6 of the 2015 Phil. GT Championship

All roads led to the Clark International Speedway (CIS) last November 8, 2015 for the 6th and final round of the 2015 Yokohama Philippine GT Championship. After missing most of the action this year, Finnish driver Veli-Matti Kaikkonen finally got back into form and dominated with a back-to-back win.

There were 13 cars on the grid. Unfortunately Paolo Mantolino’s R33 Ethanworx Racing Honda Civic FD was not one of them. This was because his team decided to withdraw after an engine failure ended his title hopes on Round 5.

The morning’s Sprint race saw a determined Kaikkonen leading the pack from start to finish. When he crossed the line, his team Hafele Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution VIII clocked in a whopping 46.778 second lead over another Lancer Evo VIII driven by team W-Autosport’s Willie Torres.

In GT200, Richmon Dela Rosa took home 1st. Trailing in 2nd and 3rd places were Bong Perez and Walter Zamora, respectively. On the other hand, Patrichk Dela Rosa claimed top spot in GT150 onboard his Honda Civic EK. Behind him in 2nd place was NR Joaquin. Bad luck struck Dindo De Jesus as he and his car ended up in the gravel just 2 laps into the race.

Down in GT100, Ivan Diaz went on to take 1st place ahead of Rhaffy Latorre in 2nd and Joginder “King” Sin in 3rd.

It was in the afternoon’s 15-lap GT race when things started to get really dramatic. Just seconds into lap 1, Bong Perez in the golden Honda Civic FD was hit from behind by Walter Zamora as they approached turn 1. This resulted in a spectacular chain of events that involved Perez spinning out of control, causing both NR Joaquin and Dindo De Jesus to hit his car hard. Fortunately, all 3 drivers made it out unharmed. Zamora was later excluded from the final standings.

As for Kaikkonen, he bagged 1st again in GT300. He was pretty much in the zone that he eventually lapped all the drivers up to 3rd place. But Kaikkonen’s great show of performance didn’t stop Willie Torres from claiming the spotlight as he already had enough points to be crowned this year’s GT300 champion.

In GT200, all of Richmon Dela Rosa and his team’s efforts paid off as he crossed the line in 1st place. This victory secured his titles as this year’s class champion and the 2015 Automobile Association of the Philippines (AAP) Driver of the Year.

Following in his older brother’s footsteps, Patrichk Dela Rosa also won 1st place in GT150, thus securing his place as this year’s class champion.

Finally in GT100, Ivan Diaz crossed the line in 1st place to secure not only his class title but also to cap off the season with a perfect 6-round winning streak. He was trailed in 2nd place by Joginder “King” Sin. In 3rd was Edwin Rodriguez in his Mazda 2 SKYACTIV race car, but he was later disqualified after failing the post-race dyno tests. This gave Rhaffy Latorre the 3rd podium position.

As for the support races, Staging Lanes' Eduardo Suiza finished 1st in the Sparco Cup Bracket Race. In 2nd and 3rd were JCT Blanche teammates Nino Garcia and Carlo Baguisa, respectively. The Grid Race, on the other hand, was dominated by JCT Blanche drivers Baguisa and Sydney Sarmiento. Suiza would finish in 3rd.

The Philminiracers Classic Mini Cup final was won by Rodney Caballero with Jason Choachuy in 2nd and Borgy Zoleta in 3rd. Dexter Daquigan once again crossed the line in 1st place for the Classic Aspirated Cup, followed by Fil Gulfin and Raffy Locson in 2nd and 3rd place, respectively.

The 2015 Yokohama Philippine GT Championship is sanctioned by the Automobile Association of the Philippines (AAP) and sponsored by Yokohama Tires Sales Philippines, Inc., Sparco, and Aguila Auto Glass with Speedlab as the official pace car dyno provider.