The Toyota Gazoo Racing PH Cup caps off its 2025 season with lots of firsts
While calling the 2025 season of the Toyota Gazoo Racing Philippine Cup “a season of firsts” may sound very redundant, believe us, but this time, it’s actually warranted.
From the reintroduction of a street circuit in Villar City to the birth of a brand-new race car in the Tamaraw OMR, and the introduction of brand-new formats such as the drag race.
Highlights of this leg’s race include the Tamaraw Sprint Race Exhibition, where we saw the Tamaraw OMR concept make its debut, where former Vios Cup champions such as Allan Uy, Daniel Miranda, Estefano Rivera, John Dizon, and GR Development Driver Aaron Guevara took the cars out for a spin.
We also saw a drag race that saw a different concept go up against the likes of a GR 86 and Vios OMR Legacy Class car, where it easily beat both of them.
You can learn more about the trucks in our previous article, but as a point of reference, the average lap time of these trucks was about 2:30, similar to the Vios CVT OMRs used by Novice Class racers.
The Endurance Race made its return to the series, where TMP President Masando Hashimoto managed to score his maiden win in the series, and there were other highlights as well, like the other two Sprint Races, and the Club Race between owners of the GR cars (Yaris, Supra, and 86).
Owners of Lexus vehicles and other GR cars were able to take their cars onto the track for a track experience, where we saw the Lexus LBX hybrid crossover lead the pack of cars as the pace car.
Finally, we also saw the TGR Philippines eSports GT Championship 2025 kick off, where participants could qualify to set their fastest times around a virtual race track using the GR Supra for a chance to qualify for the next round.
The third leg of the season finally dictated who would emerge as this year’s overall winners from that season of ups and downs.
For the Novice Class, it was Luis Moreno taking the top spot, followed by Masando Hashimoto, and John Rey San Diego in third for the overall standings. All are from the Toyota Gazoo Racing Philippines Novice Team.
As for the Sporting Class, Jesse Garcia of Obengers Racing – Toyota Balintawak took the top spot, followed by Russel Reyes of Toyota Gazoo Racing Philippines in second, and Raymond Cudala of R Racing – Toyota Dagupan – MADkart for third.
The Super Sporting Class saw Russel Cabrera of Toyota Team Cebu – Standard Insurance take first, followed by Alain Gabriel Alzona from Toyota General Santos – Motul Infiniteserv Racing, and Michael Bryan Co of R Racing – Toyota Dagupan Group – MADkart rounding up the podium.
Obengers Racing also managed to win this year’s overall team championship.
Here’s the full list of race winners for this leg:
SPRINT RACE 6
| SUPER SPORTING CLASS | ||
| Rank | Name | Team |
| 1 | Iñigo Anton | Obengers Racing – Toyota Balintawak |
| 2 | Red Diwa | Toyota Isabela |
| 3 | Russel Cabrera | Toyota Team Cebu – Standard Insurance |
| SPORTING CLASS | ||
| Rank | Name | Team |
| 1 | Raymond Cudala | R Racing – Toyota Dagupan Group – MADkart |
| 2 | Mike Santos | R Racing – Toyota Dagupan Group – MADkart |
| 3 | Jamil Lacuna | Toyota Gazoo Racing Philippines |
| NOVICE CLASS | ||
| Rank | Name | Team |
| 1 | Luis Moreno | Toyota Gazoo Racing Philippines Novice Team |
| 2 | Masando Hashimoto | Toyota Gazoo Racing Philippines Novice Team |
| 3 | Reph Bangsil | Toyota Gazoo Racing Philippines Novice Team |
| LEGACY CLASS | ||
| Rank | Name | Team |
| 1 | Julian Colvin | Toyota Gazoo Racing Philippines |
| 2 | Oliver Aquino | Tech7 Project |
| 3 | Paolo Ang | R Racing – Toyota Dagupan Group – MADkart |
SPRINT RACE 7
| SUPER SPORTING CLASS | ||
| Rank | Name | Team |
| 1 | Michael Bryan Co | R Racing – Toyota Dagupan Group – MADkart |
| 2 | Maila Alivia | Toyota Isabela |
| 3 | Red Diwa | Toyota Isabela |
| SPORTING CLASS | ||
| Rank | Name | Team |
| 1 | Jamil Lacuna | Toyota Gazoo Racing Philippines |
| 2 | Jesse Garcia | Obengers Racing – Toyota Balintawak |
| 3 | Darrel Garbes | Inbox Racing – Toyota San Fernando |
| NOVICE CLASS | ||
| Rank | Name | Team |
| 1 | Luis Moreno | Toyota Gazoo Racing Philippines Novice Team |
| 2 | John Rey San Diego | Toyota Gazoo Racing Philippines Novice Team |
| 3 | Reph Bangsil | Toyota Gazoo Racing Philippines Novice Team |
| LEGACY CLASS | ||
| Rank | Name | Team |
| 1 | Oliver Aquino | Tech7 Project |
| 2 | Julian Colvin | Toyota Gazoo Racing Philippines |
| 3 | Paolo Ang | R Racing – Toyota Dagupan Group – MADkart |
ENDURANCE RACE 2
| SUPER SPORTING CLASS | ||
| Rank | Name | Team |
| 1 | Alain Gabriel Alzona | Toyota General Santos – Motul Infiniteserv Racing |
| 2 | Michael Bryan Co | R Racing – Toyota Dagupan Group – MADkart |
| 3 | Maila Alivia | Toyota Isabela |
| SPORTING CLASS | ||
| Rank | Name | Team |
| 1 | Mike Santos | R Racing – Toyota Dagupan Group – MADkart |
| 2 | Jamil Lacuna | Toyota Gazoo Racing Philippines |
| 3 | Jiro Garbes | Inbox Racing – Toyota San Fernando |
| NOVICE CLASS | ||
| Rank | Name | Team |
| 1 | Masando Hashimoto | Toyota Gazoo Racing Philippines Novice Team |
| 2 | Luis Moreno | Toyota Gazoo Racing Philippines Novice Team |
| 3 | John Rey San Diego | Toyota Gazoo Racing Philippines Novice Team |
Photos by Sam Surla
