Team Toyota PH ready for TGR GT Cup 2022 Asia e-sports tilt

MANILA: Toyota Motor Philippines is inviting the whole nation to support the Philippine team in the Toyota Gazoo Racing Gran Turismo (TGR GT) Cup 2022 Asia Regional Finals.

The virtual motorsports competition will livestream across participating Asia Pacific countries on October 29, 6 p.m. Philippine time.

Fans and supporters can watch Team Toyota Philippines as they race alongside the toughest e-racers in Asia via the Toyota Motor Philippines and Toyota Gazoo Racing Philippines Facebook pages. Those who will watch and post their cheers during the broadcast may even get a chance to win exciting prizes.

Filipino e-racing champs Estefano Rivera, Russel Reyes, and Topher Tejada are combining their strengths and putting their minds together to prepare to race against the top e-racers of Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, and Thailand.

Estefano, Russell, and Topher competed in the National Round of the TGR GT Cup Philippines 2022 after the exciting local rounds, where they won the spots to advance to the next round.

Russel finished second in the Sporting Class, closely following Estefano’s pole position. The three athletes that would represent the nation as Team Toyota Philippines in the Asia Regional Rounds were completed when Topher won the championship in the Promotional Class.

The Team Toyota Philippines squad has a lot of potential because each representative has experience in a variety of professional motorsports.

Estefano had success as a professional racer on the real tracks before attempting e-racing.

He was crowned as the Super Sporting Class Champion of the Toyota Gazoo Racing Vios Cup, the top one-make racing competition staged by the Toyota Motor Philippines, in 2021. In addition, he has a number of other motorsport accomplishments to his record, such as taking first place in the 2018 National Gymkhana and being crowned Slalom King in the 2019 National Slalom Championship.

Russel is no newbie when it comes to e-motorsports either. Since starting his e-motorsports career in 2019, he has won several championship titles both locally and abroad. Aside from the TGR GT Cup, Russel has participated in other e-motorsports competitions such as the GSR E-Motorsports Series and Asian Endurance Series 2021, where he has shown his skill in both circuit and endurance races.

Despite being new to the e-motorsports world with the TGR GT Cup 2022 as his first e-racing competition, Topher does not let his nerves get the better of him. In the local rounds, he showed that newbies too have what it takes to win, immediately joining the winners’ podium at third place in the last round of the local rounds before climbing up the leaderboard and finishing first under the Promotional Class at the National Round.

The semifinals and finals are the two rounds that make up the Asia Regional Round.

Twenty players will race in three groups at the virtual Fuji International Speedway in the Toyota GR Yaris during the semifinals.

The top five competitors from each group will then advance to the three-round championship race, which will begin at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya with the GR Supra 2.0. The GR Supra GT4 will then be raced on Germany's renowned Nürburgring Grand Prix Circuit.

Racing enthusiasts will finally compete in the third and final round at the difficult Circuit De La Sarthe in France in the GR010 Hybrid Hypercar.

Each nation's race car will exhibit a design that reflects its vibrant and exciting culture, which will translate into the speed and excitement of every turn in the game.

The virtual race car for Team Toyota Philippines will be decked up in a unique livery modeled after the Philippine flag. The livery, created by Filipino graphic artist Nez Yumul, includes banderitas in the red, yellow, blue, and white of Philippine festivals.

With PLDT Enterprise as its official connectivity partner, Team Toyota Philippines is prepared to rule the e-tracks.

Photos from Toyota Motor Philippines and Dylan Afuang 

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