Lao leg’s quickest; Tiu, Millet crowned national champs

Aaron Lao struck the hardest with a stirring two-division victory in the season-ending leg at Clark International Speedway recently, but it was the multititled Jonathan Tiu and Arvin Millet who clinched the key overall titles in the 2019 National Drag Racing Championships.

Lao, a speed fanatic who manages the family’s construction and glass-distribution business, won Quick 8’s final quarter-mile faceoff in 10.165 seconds over Ed Christian Go (10.569), as well as the M&H Super Pro title duel over Vanni Garcia (10.711-11.839) in a 2-liter, 1,000-wheel horsepower Honda Civic EG Sport prepared by MRD Performance.

Tiu missed out on a four-leg sweep of the Northern Series championship but still topped the final two-area national tally in the elite class among the competition’s quickest eight cars with 76 points, 24 clear of runner-up Allan Ararao, with Garcia third, 37 behind.

Millet, last season’s Drag Racer of the Year, nailed the award anew with his unbeatable overall tally in the M&H Pro class, the racing bracket where stricter car preparation rules and limits to engine muscle level the playing field.

He missed the final leg won by Ryan Quimpo over Marco Polo Rivera, but still clinched the national title with 56 points, 17 up on Melvin Pamplona and 24 on third placer Mark de Jesus.

Ararao went on to bag the national Super Pro crown with 60 points over Alvin Abrigo (38) and Tiu (37) in the races sanctioned by the Automobile Association of the Philippines.