By Ulyses Ang
It all started with a father’s dream: to develop motorsports as a career of choice for Filipinos. And now, twelve years later, the Tuason Racing School is doing just that. Founded by the sons of legendary Filipino racer Arthur Tuason in 1999, Tuason Racing School is the country’s first and longest running professional racing school. And now, Tuason Racing School, or as it’s often called, TRS is showing that the best is yet to come.
With brothers JP and Mike Tuason at the helm along with their respective wives, Jeanette and Brenda, TRS has modeled itself after internationally acclaimed and respected driving schools. Over the years, the tightly knit team has undergone research and training from top racing schools such as Skip Barber, Richard Petty, Michael Andretti and Bob Bondurant. At the same time, the Tuason Brothers have become well-renowned in the racing field as well, boasting an extensive CV covering everything from karting to touring cars to rallying and even Formula 3 racing.
Over the years, TRS has slowly built a reputation for developing a crop of new Philippine motorsports talents. In 2010 alone, TRS has garnered 6 championship accolades in different categories: Philippine Production Car Championships (PPPC), Philippine Grand Touring Car Championships (PGTCC) GT 125 and GT 300 class, Pro-AM Drift Championships and Karting Super Series Mini ROK Class.
For the Philippine Production Car Championships and Philippine Grand Touring Car Championship GT 125, TRS has solidified their partnership with Ford by using the new Focus 1.8L Race Car in May of last year. 2010 marked TRS’s eighth year of collaboration with the American carmaker which started all the way back with the Lynx Racing Car. The new Focus 1.8L Race Car is certainly a step up from the previous year’s Focus which raced with a 1.6-liter engine. With its Ford GT40-inspired livery, TRS dominated the PPPC and PGTCC GT125, winning 8 out of 11 races in the PPPC alone.
The Ford Focus 1.8L Race Car was tuned by Speedlab and outfitted with K&N Performance Air Filters, Rota Wheels, Goodyear Tires, Ultra Racing Strut Bars, OMP Racing Seats, Starbright Bodykits, Runstop Brake Rotors, Freemuff Exhaust and lubricated by Castrol. The team was supported by Standard Insurance, Discovery Suites, DC Shoes, Coke Zero, Oakley, Aguila Auto Glass, 3M, C! Magazine and Dupont.
While Ford provided support in the PPPC and PGTCC GT125, TRS raced two Mazda vehicles for the PGTCC GT300 and Pro-AM Drift Championships. Though underpowered next to the likes of the Nissan Sylvia and Honda Civic Type-R, the TRS Mazda RX-7 took top honors even with only 260 horsepower on tap. Its efforts in the PGTCC GT300 class was supported by Castrol, Mazda Philippines, Goodyear Philippines, Coke Zero, Speedlab, Rota Wheels, Starbright Bodykits, Weapon R, Discovery Suites, Fremuff, OMP, Oakley, Toptul and C! Magazine.
Perhaps the biggest surprise though comes from the Pro-AM Drift Championship where the Mazda BT-50 was transformed from a workhorse of a pick-up to a championship winning drift machine. The 170 wheel horsepower BT-50 was supported throughout the series by Castrol, Goodyear, K&N Air Filters, Oakley, Rota Wheels, Starbright Bodykits, Ultra Racing, OMP, Aguila Auto Glass, OMP, Dupont, Runstop Brakes, C! Magazine and BusinessWorld.
Aside from competing in various forms of motorsport, TRS, as its name implies, offers instruction in go-karts, circuit car racing, formula car and drifting. It’s the only school that offers race training complete with professional instructors, state-of-the-art equipment, race-prepared vehicles and a scientific teaching curriculum.
So what can people expect from TRS in 2011? Aside from continuing with its motorsports activities, TRS has teamed up with Castrol to search for future Filipino racing talent with its “Champions of the Future” program.
With over 61 years of experience in Formula One, Castrol is now looking at Asia to develop future Formula One talent and has tapped TRS in carrying out a program for young racing wannabes aged 7 to 13 years old. Joining Castrol in this endeavor are the Automobile Association of the Philippines (AAP), Alaska, Pena Motorsports, AUTS Racing, Bridgestone, PUMA, OMP, Jaguar, Lifeline, Carmona Racing Track, The Philippine Star, 99.5RTfm, Trapik.com, KZone, Top Gear Philippines and Timezone.
“Champions of the Future” is currently ongoing. Currently, TRS is offering karting clinics at the Carmona Racetrack on January 30 and March 6 as well as one in Boomland Kart Track in Pasay on February 13. Participants must join at least one clinic, after which they will battle it out in actual races slated March 13 at Boomland, March 20 at the Carmona Racetrack, April 10 at Boomland and April 24 at the Carmona Racetrack. The winner of the four-leg race series will be given a scholarship package to run the National Karting Series from AAP under the mentorship of JP and Mike Tuason.
For further details, interested parties may email info@tuasonracing.com or visit http://www.tuasonracing.com/ or call 817.7795 for inquiries.
