The #55 MSCC Mazda Miata, led by Angie King, won the lead in both the six- and twelve-hour endurance races. During the 12-hour Kalayaan Cup, it lapped the 4.2-kilometer Clark International Circuit 293 times with a best time of 2 minutes 7.255 seconds. Its performance was so dominant, it built a five-lap gap to second place.

As in the previous round, the #55 MSCC Miata Spec features an ultra-lightweight carbon fiber body kit, along with Brembo front brakes, Cusco coilovers and suspension parts, a HGT 6-speed sequential gearbox, a new rear-end differential, and performance tires.

While there was little modification done on the car between the first and second legs, a contributing factor to its latest performance was a change to a quick fuel system that cut the filling time of 20 liters from 29 to just 19 seconds. The team also shifted to stickier tires that still provided the right amount of efficiency for the race.

Coming from the previous leg last June, Angie knew that the team needed faster drivers and a strategy to maximize the capabilities of each one. For the second leg, the team went from four drivers to five – Angie, Juha Turalba, Matt Solomon, Milo Rivera, and Tyson Sy.

“We followed the strategy, as always – to push on the first race, preserve the car in the middle rounds, then push again on the last race,” shares Angie. This form of teamwork played a crucial role, especially when she experienced her first bout of vertigo on the track and was forced to urgently pull-in and change drivers.

For Windy Imperial, he is proud to lead Bermaz Team 09 as the first modified MSCC Miata Spec car to be used in the newly-formed MSCC Mazda Driver Development Program. Originally, the #09 car was designed to run only 30-minute races, but it was adjusted specifically to run in the Makabayan Cup.

“The Mazda MX-5 is an amazing sports car, given its capability to be so competitive, even with very little modification to the road car version,” says Windy. He attributes the performance of the vehicle to five major modifications: the Winmax brake pads, front brake cooling ducts, Cusco racing suspension, Concept One Wheels, and the GT Radial SX-R tires.

The MSCC Mazda Driver Development Program is the brainchild of Windy Imperial and Mazda Philippines, coming from the build of a second car to race in the Endurance Cup that was to have the exact specification as the MSCC Mazda Spec Miata Race Series car.

“This is meant to really accelerate the development of the younger high potential MSCC race drivers and broaden the racing skills through the rigor of the endurance format of racing,” shares Windy.

And he takes his mentorship role very seriously. The drivers of Bermaz Team 09 were hand-selected; all promising and highly-skilled by their own merits. These are Javier Toledo, last year’s champion in the MSCC Mazda Miata Sportsman Category, 18-year old Jeff Balao, who started circuit racing only a year ago, and Lawrence ‘Enzo’ Celestino, an MSCC Spec Series driver who started in Season 1, and has been a regular podium achiever. He emphasizes that it takes a level of maturity to take on an endurance run and this challenged both the focus and mental stamina of his team. He is proud to say that “they all drove absolutely flawlessly, with no incidents or emergencies.”

In their first outing at the six- and twelve-hour Kalayaan Cup, Bermaz Team 09 finished an impressive second runner-up. With a best time of 2 minutes 15.141 seconds, they managed to complete 279 laps, 14 laps down from the winning #55 car.

Being mentors, both Angie King and Windy Imperial share a commitment in developing the next generation of racers. One of the things that Angie loves about endurance racing is that there is always something to improve on in the next race – from personal driving skills, to the mechanical engineering of the cars, and most importantly, the camaraderie of the team that has become like family. For Windy, his philosophy is that it’s not just about driving fast, but also being mature enough to make sure to finish well.

After all, it takes a village get a race car on the track, but it takes an even bigger village rallying behind you to get to the finish line.