PRESS RELEASE – Clear skies and beautiful weather was the setting at the Guam International Raceway in Yigo this past Sunday for Round 3 of the 2014 Proline Drift Series presented by Monster Energy Drink, Napa Auto Parts / Valvoline, Hafa Adai Signs, and GoPro.

A mix of Guam’s 9 expert class drivers and Novice drivers mashed up for an exciting afternoon of drifting which was streaming live online courtesy of the Aclaro FX who live streamed the event viPRESS RELEASE – Clear skies and beautiful weather was the setting at the Guam International Raceway in Yigo this past Sunday for Round 3 of the 2014 Proline Drift Series presented by Monster Energy Drink, Napa Auto Parts / Valvoline, Hafa Adai Signs, and GoPro.

A mix of Guam’s 9 expert class drivers and Novice drivers mashed up for an exciting afternoon of drifting which was streaming live online courtesy of the Aclaro FX who live streamed the event via IT&E’s 4G Mifi.

The lineup with results of their qualifying runs (Best of 3 judged solo runs) to determine their place in the tandem battles. Top 8 were chosen to move into tandem battles.

1.) Ron Avelino 266pts
2.) Von Burrell 245pts
3.) Arvin Aviles 215pts
4.) Don Cabuhat 210pts
5.) Diana Guevarra 150pts
6.) Carl Bungabong 90pts
7.) Matthew Palarca 86pts
8.) Jaimee Mendiola 85pts
9.) Laban Duplichan 75pts

(photo courtesy of Brian Garcia/Paul Sacayan)

First Ladder:

1.) Avelino vs. 8.) Mendiola = Expert driver Ron Avelino led the first run with lady novice drifter Jaimee Mendiola chasing which ended with a 8/2 decision to Avelino. Switching places Mendiola ran lead with Avelino in the chase car. Avelino took the second run with a 7/3 points advantage getting him into the semi finals.

4.) Cabuhat vs. Gevarra = Cabuhat led the first run against lady drifter Diana Guevara in chase position. Cabuhat had a slight advantage over Guevara and gained a 6/4 lead on the first run. With Guevara leading and Cabuhat chasing, they both made similar mistakes and ran a tandem run of 5/5 but the previous runs point advantage gave Cabuhat all he needed to advance into the Semi finals against Ron Avelino.

Second Ladder:

3.) Aviles vs. 6.) Bungabong = Expert driver Arvin Aviles in his Automatic Lexus SC300 led the first against Novice driver Carl Bungabong dominating with a 8/2 points lead. With Bungabong upfront, Aviles managed to find an open line before turn 2 and passed Carl (which was not counted against Carl) continued their runs and Aviles took it with a 8/2 decision.

2.) Burrell vs. 7.) Palarca = Burrell after smashing his car during practice used team mate Dan Aclaro’s Nissan S13 to compete and led the first run against Novice Matt Palarca. Palarca spun out during his chase and gave Burrell a 10/0 automatic advantage.
With Palarca leading he sun out again and Burrell finished his run with a 10/0 to move into the semi finals against Look Super team mate Arvin Aviles.

(photo courtesy of Brian Garcia/Paul Sacayan)

Semi Finals:

Avelino vs. Cabuhat = Ron Avelino led the first run against Don Cabuhat who turned up the heat since qualifying and the first tandem match. Avelino finished with a 6/4 over Cabuhat. Switching places Cabuhat led into the second turn with a smokey spinout and Avelino right behind him, just missing him by a couple feet. (See photos captured) Avelino took the run with a 10/0 getting him into the finals and Cabuhat staying back to battle for Third.

Burrell vs. Aviles = Burrell led the first run against Aviles tailing him. Both made errors on the course evening out the score with a 5/5. Aviles led the next run and it showed he felt more comfortable leading against his team mate and killed it with a 7/3 points lead getting him into the finals and leaving Burrell to battle Don Cabuhat for 3rd place.

Battle for 3rd:

Burrell vs. Cabuhat = Von Burrell changed out cars and used team mate Jaimee Mendiola’s Purple Nissan S13.4 for his final run of the afternoon against Don Cabuhat. Von was totally leading in points especially after Cabuhat spun out chasing Burrell, but Burrell spun the car out right before the finish giving both a 0/0 on points.
Don Cabuhat ran the second run leading against Burrell and left him behind with a real nice run, Burrell still hit the clipping points and ran a good line but Cabuhat took it with a 6/4, making him take win the 3rd place position for the competition.

Finals:

Avelino vs. Aviles = Avelino led the first run and both guys of Team Look Super did an awesome job with Ron edging out Arvin on the first run by just a little giving Avelino a 6/4. Exchanging places Aviles led and Avelino chased. Avelino gave too much of a gap on the start, Aviles ran a good line and higher speed than the previous run giving Aviles a 6/4 advantage and evening out the score calling for a “One More Time” sudden death rematch to determine the winner.

Avelino led again first with Aviles trailing behind. This time Aviles fell a bit short and Ron pushed it to get a 7/3 advantage. Switching places both ran real hard, almost identical, both at good speed and hitting all the clipping points. Right at the end of the run Arvin Aviles’ tire blew out. That run was real exciting and was a 5/5 finish but Ron Avelino’s first run gave him enough to take the overall win and first place for Round 3 of the Proline Drift series.

(photo courtesy of Brian Garcia/Paul Sacayan)

Results:

1. Ron Avelino
2. Arvin Aviles
3. Don Cabuhat

Event Highlights:
• During practice, Von Burrell lost electrical initiating at high speed into the first corner, lost control and smashed his car into the guard rail.
• Don Cabuhat lost control into turn 2 right in front of Ron Avelino who was chasing. Close call that Avelino was able to avoid and drift past him
• Ron Avelino smashed his side skirt and front bumper up on a clipping point and on a cone during tandems on two separate occasions.

Judges:
Tom Akigami
Lee Webber
Jim Cruz