ni Brian Yalung

HAHARUROT ang Petron Mabuhay Independence Rally, sa pangangasiwa ni Filipino racing driver Mike Potenciano, sa Lunes sa pagdiriwang ng bansa sa Araw ng Kalayaan.

Isinusulong ni Potenciano ang karera bilang hakbang sa kanyang layunin na buhayin at ibalik ang interest sa car racing sports sa kamalayaan ng Pilipino.

Sa naturang event, iginiit ni Potenciano na hindi lamang ang bilis ang dapat bigyan ng atensiyon, bagkus ang husay sa tamang pagmamaneho.

"Whenever you call it a rally, most immediately associate it with speed. With the Petron Mabuhay Independence Rally, we wanted to emphasize on navigation. Hence, it will be the driver who can effectively navigate the route, compute for the best time and get on time at the checkpoints at the right time. Penalties will be meted on participants in the form of demerits for every second off the set time,” pahayag ni Potenciano.

Higit, ayon kay Potenciano, malaking tulong ito sa pagsasanay nang mga batang driver.

"TSD (Time Speed Distance) rally is a very good training ground for future navigators. Drivers already have practice through slaloms but for navigators, this is the only time they can practice."

"In other countries when they started TSD rallies, nag-diversify sila to stage rallies because they started to make the average faster and faster, reaching a point where they were only concerned about getting the best time.

Eventually we want to bring back stage rallying in the Philippines, and hopefully the international scene,” sambit ni Potenciano.