Manio rules Diesel race; Ararao tops Quick 8

Lewy Manio topped the new Diesel class in his souped-up Mitsubishi in the 2017 National Drag Racing Championships Southern Series at Batangas Racing Circuit recently.

Manio timed 16.668 seconds to beat Kiko Tornilla in the finals after besting Venancio Campued, who came all the way from the losers’ bracket, in the semifinals of this, the third round of the series sponsored by M&H, Sparco and Aguila Auto Glass.

Two-division defending champion Jonathan Tiu of JCT Racing had an engine overheat in the qualifiers and yielded the spotlight in the Quick 8 to Allan Ararao, who timed 10.761 seconds in beating Rommel Dural.

Romualdo Vasquez ruled the M&H Pro class over Dural in 12.370 seconds.

The other winners were Dondon Santos in the Expert class, Sherwin Jay Esguerra in the Sportsman races, and Nino Lorzano in the Hotstreet division. —STEVE SILVA, RACING CONTRIBUTOR