Emer Agero wins the 2013 Philippine Short Course Nationals

 

 

The 3rd leg of the Philippine Off-Road National Championships saw the Short Course 4x4 class hit the CV Off-Road Track in Metro Manila! The day got to a great start with 3 full rounds of qualifying. The best time in the 1st round was posted by veteran Losi off-road racer Romel Gellado. Fortunately for him, the time set would stand for the rest of qualifying and give him the coveted TQ honour on the grid. Current 1/8th Scale E-Buggy National Champion and fellow Losi racer, Emer Agero, had a shot at stealing the TQ spot but his trusty Losi Short Course Truck let him down towards the end of the 3rd Round. Consistent A-Main racer Mike Ang was also in the hunt but he too fell short with his Losi kit. The Losi kit (1.0 & 2.0 versions) dominated the A-Main with only 1 Associated kit that never got to race because of mechanical issues. Unfortunately, No HoBao/OFNA, Hong Nor or Durango kits made it either.

Just after the lunch break and the start of the Mains there was also a rain delay. Just like during the Nitro Buggy Nationals, the CV Track’s favorable top soil once again did its job and actually increased traction for races after it properly absorbed enough of the moisture. The order for the top 4 in the A-Main were Romel Gellado, Mike Ang, Emer Agero & Vin Diaz. As the beep sounded it was a very tight start between all the trucks. Side by side racing occurred up and down the order. A first lap crash by Romel on the double-double jump gave Mike Ang the lead. Only one corner later though it was Mike with a mistake on the big double which handed the lead to Vin Diaz. Emer got to take advantage of the errors ahead of him and quickly climbed to 2nd place behind Vin. After the big triple it was Vin with an error which in-turn handed Emer the lead as he snuck by from the inside. Emer managed to open a gap but Vin stayed within striking distance. Sherwin Yu who qualified much further down the order fought his way up to the lead pack and got by both Romel & Mike. He hunted down Vin and Emer for the rest of the race and managed to get passed Vin but Emer was too far ahead. Emer bagged the first win of the triple A-Main.

A-Main race # 2 started with a train of racers pressuring each other. Unfortunately for TQ man Romel, he again was caught out by the same double-double jump which allowed Mike and Emer to get by and fight for the lead. Emer managed to just get ahead of Mike. To Mike’s credit, he kept Emer in check as he was just 4 or 5 truck lengths away after the first lap. Both racers stretched out their lead and began to checkout from the rest of the field. This resulted in a head to head race of their own. Mike made a few errors on the triple jump which allowed Emer to have some breathing room. Mike then went on an all out charge and pushed hard on the last few laps until he got right behind Emer’s rear bumper. With under 30 seconds Emer made a slight error which allowed Mike to jump over his truck and grab the lead! They battled to the next corner but again Emer made another error which allowed Mike to pull a small gap. Mike then squandered his lead with a nose-dive crash after the triple allowing Emer to catch-up and get right behind him. Both trucks raced to the line and just beat the clock by a few seconds for an all out race to the finish on the very last lap! Emer took the lead on the corner just before the triple. By the time he took the jump and landed both trucks were side by side with 3 corners and one jump to go! On the last corner Emer tried a desperate move to the inside but Mike closed the door on him which resulted in a collision and crash! Fortunately, both trucks ended up on their wheels and Emer did the gracious and sportsmanlike act of allowing Mike to take the win since it was his truck that first made contact from behind. Sherwin Yu battled to a solid 3rd place finsih. This now set-up a tantalizing 3rd A-Main race to crown a Philippine National Champion!

The tension for the 3rd and final A-Main was palpable as both Emer and Mike had the best chance at taking home the overall win with Sherwin Yu as a potential dark-horse. As the race started TQ man Romel finally got through the first lap with the lead while Emer and Mike jostled for 2nd place right behind him. Mike again made an error on the triple which allowed Emer through. As the trucks got to the chicken-feet section Romel began to lose grip and traction. This then allowed Emer to take the lead. Romel’s traction problems continued which forced him to double and single the triple. This allowed Mike to soar above him on the jump and take 2nd place away as he desperately had to catch and pass Emer for the championship! By the middle of the race the two again slowly pulled away from the pack as Mike kept Emer within sight. Mike’s bane though, the triple jump, again started to haunt him as he had a few errors while landing. This allowed Emer to pull a gap between them. Slower trucks and traffic kept Emer’s lead honest but it also allowed him to drive consistently in the final laps. Sherwin Yu held station at 3rd for most of A-3. Towards the end Emer Agero again managed to just beat the clock which earned him a well deserved victory lap as he won his 3rd National Championship and first in the Short Course 4x4 class. Mike Ang took a hard fought 2nd Place while Sherwin bagged 3rd overall despite having a challenging qualifying session. On-Road specialist Rains Viola got 4th overall and Vin Diaz took 5th. Talk about good fortune, Emer’s Airtronics/Sanwa transmitter was beeping towards the end of the race as he forgot to switch to a new LiPo battery pack. Luckily for him, he made it to the finish line and the error didn’t cost him a National Championship! Many thanks to All the Racers and Sponsors who joined and supported the event!

 

 

 

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