We almost did not make it.  Because of the scheduled South East Asian Games at Subic, as well as the annual motorsports festival, all of the houses and hotels were fully booked.  Our lucky break came two days before we were scheduled to leave.  We were able to book a suite for Saturday and Sunday at the Country Inn Hotel after one of their reserved guests backed out.  We got lucky.  We thought that was the end of our problems.  We were wrong.

We left early on Saturday morning; early enough to forget about breakfast.  Since my car wasn't finished in time for the trip, I hitched a ride with our club secretary Brian Gaerlan.  It was a cool morning and we were off by around 450am to fetch Remington Siy at his house in Quezon City.  The cool morning air and light traffic made for a pleasant drive.  We were all in high spirits, and excited for the activities that lay ahead.

Then the first problem appeared.  Shortly after fetching Remington, we started to notice that the car did not exactly sound right.  At first we thought it was the motorbike beside us, but after the bike turned off the road, we realized we were mistaken.   We pulled over and a quick check under the hood brought us to the conclusion that our exhaust pipe was leaking around the joint from the downpipe to the rest of the exhaust system.  So now the silky 2 liter six sounded like a lumpy Harley Davidson.

Since the problem was not major, we decided to move on and deal with it later.  We headed towards our rendezvous point at Shell along the northbound stretch of the NLEX.  There we were scheduled to meet with our technical director, Bernard Sy, who was bringing the newly tuned red rocket of Remington.  We were later joined by Miata Club Philippines member Atty. Joey Bernardez, and his supercharged mx5 roadster. 

The drive up to Bataan was quick.  Remington lead the way with his red 325i, followed closely by Joey's supercharged Miata.  Our leaking exhaust started to deteriorate, and soon we began to sound like one of those old school Camaros.  Unlike the Camaros however, we were slow. The leaking exhaust robbed the engine of it's power.  It didn't matter, we were less than an hour away from our destination.  We would fix the problem there.

The quick drive came into an abrupt halt.  There was road work going on and the opposite lane was completely closed off.  We were not moving.  We waited.  We moved 3 feet.  The leaking hot exhaust gases was beginning to overcome our car's engine cooling system.  As our engine temperature started creeping up, Brian and I exchanged seats and I took the helm.  I popped the hood open to let the hot air and exhaust gas mixture to vent out and gave the engine a few revs to expel the remaining hot gases.  30 minutes gone.  It was like watching Windows install.  As temperatures began to lower in the engine bay and the car's occupant's heads, we started moving again.  We closed the hood and met a wide open road.

We eventually arrived at Subic.  We went straight to Pancake House for some much needed breakfast.  We were joined there by Ricci Jimenez, his wife Abi, and their son Martin.  Our fellow club member Peter de Guzman joined us there as Brian and Bernard left to have the leaking 320i repaired.  The rest of us headed to the race track.

It was the first time I drove the heavily modified 325i after it's break in period.  I was pleased to find how well it pulls considering the luggage we were still carrying in the trunk.  I started exploring it's limits as we headed into the twisty back roads that went around the airport and into the race track.  I noticed some oversteer and overall lack of grip due to its tires (Dunlop Le Mans).  As expected, the car was very sensitive to throttle inputs.  This car was about to show what kind of monster it is.

We arrived on time to see the Manila Sports Car Club's vintage and classic car race.  Upon arriving on the track, we all noticed the new track layout.  The new layout proved to be harder than it seems.  Complicated by dust from nearby construction sites and new track surface, the track proved to be slick.  Numerous cars spun out under braking at the chicane prior to the shortened back straight.  One of the Triumphs lost a front wheel under braking for the chicane.  Luckily, no one was hurt. 

The Philippine National Touring Car series was next.  The dusty track proved to be difficult even for these skilled drivers.  Several cars found themselves spinning out under braking for the chicane.  Some understeered their way.  Towards the end of the race, one car understeered on the chicane's exit, clipping the tire wall in the process causing the car to spin sideways and flip over.  Another Civic race car following close behind had nowhere to go and found itself on the tire barrier while it tried to avoid the rolling car ahead.  The crowd gave a round of applause as the two drivers walked (or crawled as was the case for the upside down Civic) out of their wrecked vehicles relatively unscathed.  Both were checked by EMT's stationed in the track.  The race ended under the safety car while marshals removed the wrecked cars and cleared the debris on the track.

Brian and Bernard returned, accompanied by Paolo Sayo and his brother.  We took a few photos of the e30's on the parking lot before heading of to the twisty back roads again for some spirited driving.  I drove Paolo's blue 320i 2 door, while Bernard drove the red 325i around trying to feel the car's handling.  It became apparent that the car suffered from a lot of oversteer on and off power.

Peter went back home after dinner.  Brian and I joined Ricci for coffee, while Bernard, Paolo and Remington went off to party at the beach and watch the Bikini Open.  We also did some fair amount of shopping.  Several "parols" were for sale near the coffee shop so Brian decided to buy some for his house.  Bernard got himself a cool pair of sunglasses.  Remington also bought some Christmas decorations as well as some small wooden boxes that have rubber spiders that jump out when opened.

The next day, we decided to run the 2 Goodwrench Performance cars to represent the E30 Club at the Run What You Brung competition.  Brian was to drive his 320i, while Remington was in command of his 325i.  Before the event started, Brian's exhaust started to leak again.  It didn't look too good.  We were about to drive on track with an E30 that sounded like a Camaro and an E30 that handled like one.  We decided to run only one car.  The wild 325i.

The event started with a driver's briefing and several pace car laps so that the participants could get familiar with the track.  The qualifying rounds started soon after that.  Remington did well considering his lack of traction on his first lap with a time of 1:12.  Then things started to sour.  He came into the first corner after the main straight a bit too hot.  As the car started to slide around, he made it into the first chicane.  As soon as he started putting down the power, he lost traction and spun out into the tire barriers.  It was plain luck that he wasn't hurt and the car escaped with minor damage with a broken tail lamp and a few dents on his bumper and trunk.  The car also lost it's front chin while going backwards up the embankment into the tire wall.

We decided to give the track a second go.  This time with Bernard on the controls of the damaged 325i.  He was careful on the corners and pretty nervous.  Although he was taking the corners way slower than the other cars, the sheer power of the M20 clawed back some time.  You could see the rear tires smoking as he exited the corners and hit the "go" pedal.    He ended up with a fastest lap of 1:10.56, enough to secure 2nd place in his bracket.

We left Subic after dinner.  Traffic was light but we decided to take our time on our way home. 

This year's festival was eventful, but it was one of the most enjoyable yet.  We made some new friends there and reinforced some existing ones in the process.  Yes we will be back next year.