I’ve written extensively about what my 1st year (2024) of the Toyota Gazoo Racing Philippine Cup was like. The 1st year was all about learning and surviving, every race weekend felt like a whole new experience where I just had to get in the car and drive, hoping for the best.
As luck would have it, I would be asked to return for another season of the TGR PH Cup, and boy oh boy, how things changed this year.
Year 2: 2025 Toyota Gazoo Racing PH Cup
To be invited to reprise my role in the saga that is racing for the Novice class came as a huge surprise to me. While I did finish with 2 podiums and a win last season, I didn’t exactly blow the competition away. I would say people (including my own team) were more than surprised when I would outperform our class’s top runners.
I, along with 3 other teammates (including the President), were asked to come back for season 2025; to say we were an eclectic bunch is an understatement. The 2025 Novice team included 4 motoring media representatives, 2 KOLs, the brand President, and the outlier, supremely talented (somewhat robotic) sim-racer.
Things started off with an immense amount of pressure for us returnees; in truth, we should have had the advantage, but quickly, the rest of our teammates were just as good or even better in some cases. My work was cut out for me as early as Leg 1 of this season, where I would consider my performance to be just ‘okay’, lucking into a podium through a penalty, and basically overdriving most of the race weekend with not much to show for it in the end.
Leg 2 offered the most mentally and emotionally taxing experience. Having been one of the slowest during free practice, I found it in me to clock in a time good enough for pole position, which led to me defending 1st place with all the skill and courage I could muster, in the end, consolidating 2 race wins during an insanely tough weekend. Coming out of Leg 2 with such momentum gave me the confidence heading into the final leg of the season (I was even 2nd overall in the championship).
Toyota Gazoo Racing PH Cup Leg 3: Crashing Back Down To Earth
The final leg of the Toyota Gazoo Racing Philippine Cup ended up becoming my most memorable in terms of learning what the truth about competitive racing really is. I came into Leg 3 trying to keep as calm a mindset as possible, there was of course ‘hype’ swirling around me considering my performance during the street race where I came out the most victorious in my class, but I did my best to tune it out and keep my head in the game by not over compensating or overthinking the upcoming leg.
That was, I would say, my first mistake. It’s only now that I realize that I effectively “neutered” my competitiveness even before the lights went green. I resigned myself as much as I could to the idea that “It’s okay if I don’t win overall 1st place in the season standings”, “I have nothing else to prove, don’t overdo it”, these were just some of the things I’d tell myself coming into the final race.
Having somewhat succeeded in keeping myself composed throughout pre-race practices and even during qualifying, I was, for all intents and purposes, in a zen state while out on track. However, I took it too far by allowing myself to be content with a pace that, to be honest, was not going to get me the win that every other driver around me craved; in short, I lacked the competition mindset the greatest athletes and race car drivers live by.
A number of reasons can be laid out as factors in what I would consider a truly subpar performance for someone in my position coming into the final leg. My best finish position was 5th in 2 sprint races, and last place in the final endurance that entailed double points. Things really hit home for me during the overall season awardings, when the top-3 in my class were awarded with multiple sponsor-driven gifts and prizes, while I squandered a 2nd overall in the standings to limp home 5th overall by the end of the season.
I’m not one to make excuses; it seems easy to do so, and often I’m guilty of it, but in the end, ultimately it all comes down to me as the guy behind the wheel. I was simply outdriven and outperformed by my classmates who truly deserve the praise and accolades bestowed upon them. They drove with the necessary grit and mindset that a competition like the TGR PH Cup requires from each racer.
Which brings me to the title of this article, Season 2 has taught me that it’s as much about the mind as it is about skill and physicality, I’ve already shown that I have the skill, I’ve stepped on the podium multiple times and even gotten to the top step, but when the mind isn’t there skill doesn’t matter because it won’t show up.
I write this 2 days after the chequered flag dropped on the final race, and it’s now that the circus has left town that I realize these things. I’m not ranting, nor am I looking for sympathy; I’m simply coming to terms with the fact that living the dream requires more than just living; one must be willing to do everything to be able to continue chasing the dream of winning at this level of PH motorsport.
Allow me to end with something my mechanic (whom I became close to this year) sent me earlier today. It was an inspirational post with just one line, “You can’t control the fall, but you can always choose to rise”.
That I shall, should God grant me a 2026 season, I’m ready.
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