Victor Ancheta, Enzo Ison, and Matthew Ang will be our country’s representatives to the 2025 Toyota Gazoo Racing Asia eSports GT Championship next month, after finishing as this year’s winners in the national finals on October 12.
This will be Ancheta’s first regional appearance in the series. At the 2025 TGR Philippines eSports GT Championship, the newcomer placed third overall out of over 250 participants in the qualifiers, before besting 39 other racers to clinch the title with 72 points. Meanwhile, 2024 runner-up Ison and 2023 third-placer Ang will once again return to the regional stage, having secured their positions with 67.5 and 61.5 points, respectively.
Forty qualifiers were whittled down to 10 through the quarterfinal and semifinal rounds. A plot twist then came with the announcement of a Wild Card Round: Eight previously eliminated competitors were selected via a random draw to compete for the 11th slot in the national finals. For an extra challenge, former champions Luis Moreno and Russel Reyes were called in to participate, giving the runners a valuable opportunity to test their skills against series veterans. James Lopez won the round after placing third after Moreno and Reyes, and advanced to the finals.
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The first race of the finals was run on Kyoto Driving Park – Yamagiwa, with competitors all driving the Supra Racing Concept. Ang started from pole, but was overtaken by Ison, who went on to win. Ancheta and Jether Miole completed the top three.
In the second finals round, the runners raced the GR Yaris around Colorado Springs. Ang made the most of his dirt driving skills to take victory, followed by Miole and Ison.
The third race was worthy of a season finale. The racers ran the GR010 Hybrid on the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, and things got spicy during the first lap: Miole dropped to the back of the grid after being involved in an incident, while Ison and Ang struggled for pace and position due to their chosen tire strategies. Michael Velasquez made a last-lap overtake on Ancheta to take the win, with Corwin Mercado finishing behind them in third.
Aside from being the national winners, the podium finishers also took home special awards: Crowd Favorite for Ancheta, Smooth Operator for Ison, and Pole Position for Ang. Miole also got the award for Best Overtake.
“I feel happy that I won the championship, and I feel honored to be one of the drivers to be representing the Philippines,” Ancheta said. “I am looking forward to going up against Asia’s fastest drivers and see where I stand up against them.”
“It feels great to be on the podium and that I will have the chance to represent the country once again in Thailand next month,” shared Ison. “I’m looking forward for another fun experience and hopefully get a great result for Team Philippines at the Asia Finals!”
Finally, Ang said: “I felt disappointed since I genuinely felt I could become champion this year, but now I feel grateful and empowered to perform well in the Asia Finals. I’m looking forward to representing my country again, and more importantly, seeing my old competitors from 2023 and seeing how much I improved in two years.”
The 2025 Toyota Gazoo Racing Asia eSports GT Championship will be held in Thailand on November 3.
More photos of the 2025 TGR Philippines eSports GT Championship:
