Mazda PH is winding up with the 1st leg of the Fan Festa PH 2025
Picture this: it’s a scorching hot Saturday in the Philippines. Logically, you would head to the nearest mall, or lock up at home with air conditioners blasting at max with a cold beverage or refreshment on hand.
Instead, you find yourself at the Clark International Speedway, with a bunch of like-minded people, all gathered together under the premise of celebrating a certain brand’s vehicles and the community around it. Heck, you even see about a dozen or more owners of convertibles put their tops down and enjoy driving about in these air fryer-like conditions. Are they mad?
No, it’s seen as one of the rare opportunities for owners and fans alike to let loose, as this is just one of the many local Mazda Fan Festa legs to be held this year by Mazda Philippines.
The company has slowly been refining the concept and its execution since the first ever one was held back in September 30, 2023, by adopting and integrating ideas from its long-running equivalent held in Japan.
What changed this year? This time, we find the one-make MSCC Miata Spec Series now integrated during the events, and instead of just one Saturday, the event is now spread out across four different weekends, being May 10, then July 5, followed by September 20, and November 8, respectively.
This season introduces a few new racers, but one of which is more noteworthy as we see Chenee Jimenez make her debut in the series under the tutelage of Angie King, with Mazda Philippines sponsoring her for the season.
In fact, the two races of the MSCC Miata Spec Series held on the first leg were nothing short of polar opposites. We saw carnage in the first race resulting in a few retirements (Chenee included), and the second race later in the day took place during a heavy downpour, resulting in a slip-and-slide for most of the racers, except the top three kept on constantly battling it out for a dramatic race end.
Apart from that, the gentleman’s race of the Miata Cup was held, where participants could bring their own vehicles and see who is the fastest, alongside the Track Experience for those who wanted to safely push their Mazdas to the limits, or to experience what it’s like to drive on a racetrack.
One of the newest additions is the Fan Endurance race, which allows for specific drivers to push their own cars for one hour on the track in a friendly competition. Though, if you want to enter, you’ll need an AAP racing license to be able to participate in this event.
Of course, if you were a spectator, you could roam the grounds and participate in various activities such as Sim Racing, ogle at the various cars on display, and even take a look at the parts on sale, such as those from AutoExe, Momo wheels, and PartsPro for other general bits and bobs.
Other events such as the demo run (which previously featured Angie King’s four-rotor RX-7) and the much-awaited Sunset Parade have probably been pushed back to the other legs (also to mercifully wait for cooler weather), which should be even more of a reason for you to attend the upcoming legs.
Photos by Sam Surla and Julian Panlilio
