Last February 23, MotoGP champion Valentino Rossi went to the Philippines to help Yolanda victims through Yamaha's Lend A Hand Project. During the press conference held in Laguna, media and fans get to see the champion in person. Rossi was grateful to be in the country and to the warm welcome given to him.

Lend A Hand Project was an effort made possible by Yamaha Motor Company Ltd. bound to help rebuild the lives of Typhoon Yolanda victims.

Valentino Rossi

Valentino Rossi together with Yamaha Motor executives..

Rossi's arrival also marks the opening leg of the Yamaha GP 5 held in SM City Sta. Rosa. 

After the press conference, Rossi provided a bit of a show as he raced in the tracks using Yamaha's motorcycle.

Petron Value Card holders have another exciting treat in store with the “Grab a Porsche” promo running from November 1 to 30, 2013.

For every P1,000-single receipt purchase of Petron Blaze 100 Euro 4, Petron XCS, Petron Xtra Advance, Petron Super Xtra, Petron Turbo Diesel or Petron Diesel Max AND presentation of a Petron Value Card, the customer is entitled to buy one Porsche toy car of his choice.

Five new sports car models will be available: (1) a red Porsche Carrera GT with remote control; (2) a grey Porsche 918 Spyder with remote control; (3) a Porsche GT3 Cup with racing decals; (4) a black and red Porsche 911 GT3 RS with racing decals; and (5) a blue Porsche Cayman Race with racing decals. The models with remote controls are offered for P240 each, while the three other models with racing decals are available at P180 each.

The Porsche toy cars are 1:32 scale models of the actual cars and are made of high-quality die-cast metal. They have been approved by the Department of Health (DOH) as being safe for children. Each car is a carefully detailed collector’s model packaged with a removable base, and are equipped with a sound chip and LED head and taillights. 

All five toy cars have enhanced functions such as rev sound with lights, alarm sound with lights, horn sound with lights, as well as pull-back and go action. The remote control can activate all five cars’ engine start/rev sound with lights, door lock sound with lights, and door alarm sound.  

The Petron “Grab a Porsche” promo is offered at all participating Petron service stations nationwide, exclusively for Petron Value Card holders. The toy car can only be purchased at the participating Petron station where you loaded fuel, or same site redemption only.

To be eligible for this promo, you can apply for a Petron Value Card, which is available to everyone who patronizes Petron products and services. Simply ask for the Petron Value Card at any participating Petron station to get your card on-site so you can immediately start enjoying its perks. For only P100, you get the Petron Value Card pre-loaded with 100 points, which you can use to pay for your fuel purchase. As a reward card, you earn 1-point (with a cash value of P1) for every P250-worth of fuel spend. As a discount card, you get discounts for purchases of Petron Gasul and Petron lubricants, SMC products at San Mig Food Ave., and as much as 70% off from partner establishments. It also offers free personal accident insurance coverage as well as free 24-hour towing and roadside assistance.  Terms and conditions apply.

Check out posters and flyers for more information about Petron Value Card rewards and privileges.  Also ask for exclusive Petron Value Card rewards and promos every time you fuel up at a Petron service station.

Darwin, Australia -- Sikat II, the country’s representative to the 2013 World Solar Challenge (WSC) in Australia, reached another milestone when it placed first in its class during the qualifying round of the world’s biggest solar car competition held at Hidden Valley Raceway on October 5.

The Philippines clocked 2:30.53, beating closest competitor Team Aurora of Australia which timed 2:32.95. There are five other solar cars participating in the Adventure class.

This achievement earned Sikat II the pole position in the biennial meet, beginning October 6in this Northern Territory city and will end in Adelaide on October 11.  It covers 3,021 kilometers of the Australian Outback.

This is the best performance of the Philippines in the qualifying round since it joined the WSC in 2007. Sinag placed 12th that year while Sikat ranked 19th in 2011.

“I’m estatic that we reached the coveted pole position. The whole team has prepared hard for the past few days so I’m very happy,” says Carl Mamawal, Sikat II main driver.

A core group of 20 mechanical and electrical engineering students and six faculty members from De La Salle

University modified and made some improvements to the 2011 Sikat II car.

First Phil Holdings, First Gen, Energy Development Corporation, Sunpower, Ufreight, Shell, and Motolite helped make the improved Sikat II possible.

A total of 42 teams from 24 countries are joining in this year’s WSC, competing in three classes.  

For updated news and information on Sikat II and Team Sikat Solar Philippines, go to Facebook: Team Solar Philippines, and Twitter and Instagram: SikatSolarPh.

Vision Petron, the award-winning national student art competition of industry leader Petron Corporation is now calling for entries for its 13th iteration, with the theme Lakbay Tagumpay—A Journey of Triumphs and Milestones.

This year Vision Petron continues the road to rediscovery by celebrating our individual triumphs and historical victories. We dwell deeper into the Filipino psyche and focus on what defines us through our sense of achievement; how these fulfill us and make us proud and strive even harder through lessons learned in life. Examples for Lakbay Tagumpay could evolve around goals and beliefs in life. Values of determination, discipline, love for one’s work, patience, sacrifice for the greater good are related to one’s success in life.

Vision Petron is a partnership between Petron Corporation and the youth, both sharing a common advocacy of preserving Philippine art and culture, values, traditions and skills. It is open to all talentedstudents enrolled in a regular university or college course, or in tutorial art and photography classes.  Participants must be Filipino and ages 16-28 years old. Student artists may compete in four categories:  Painting (oil and water-based media), colored photography, t-shirt art design, and video-making.

Entries for the painting categories (oil and water-based media) should be no bigger than 4ft x 4ft unframed. Colored photography entries should be 8.5 x 11 inches to 10 x 15 inches unframed, taken after 30 April 2013.T-shirt art design entries must be executed on a white, round-neck short-sleeved t-shirt.

Video-making is a new competition category and is open to individual students or a group with up to 3 members. Entries must be up to 3-minutes in length, and produced and edited exclusively by the entrants.

Prizes for the various categories are as follows: Painting—P50,000 each for six grand prize winners; P20,000 each for six runners-up; and P5,000 each for 18 semi-finalists.  Photography—P30,000 each for six grand prize winners and P15,ooo each for six runners-up. T-shirt art design—P30,000 each for three grand prize winners and P5,000 each for nine semifinalists. Vide0-making—P30,000 per entry for three grand prize winners. All Grand Prize winners will get trophies and plaques made by National Artist Napoleon V. Abueva. Schools of the Grand Prize winners will also get special prizes from Petron.

Application forms may be downloaded from the website: www.visionpetron.com and at the Vision Petron Facebook page. These must be signed by the participant’s college or university dean or the art teacher of a tutorial to confirm the entrant’s current enrollment. 

Deadline for submission of entries is 09 August 2013 at Petron bulk plants nationwide or 16 August 2013at the Vision Petron Project Secretariat located at Studio 5 Designs, 28 Paseo de Roxas cor Jupiter St., Bel-Air Village, Makati City. If submitting by courier, the entry must be sent to the secretariat's address and postmarked 09 August 2013.

Winners will be notified personally or through a phone call—and not by any other means—by the Vision Petron Secretariat. 

It was back 2011 when I first tried go karting and I should say - IT WAS DEFINITELY FUN!

photo taken 2011 courtesy of Kotse.com

People from the south can now experience go karting st Starmall Alabang.. I was able to experience kart racing with fellow bloggers and media again last Saturday.. Nice to see same people who I've raced with..

We were divided into groups for the initial race but before that an orientation first for the safety rules. 

We were toured and oriented of the race track, to familiarize ourselves of the curves and turns..

And the race began..

We also got to meet two (2) young professional kart racers of City Kart Racing Team -- Carlos Lorenzo and Tai Alexander Zulberti..

 

NAME: Carlos V. Lorenzo

NICKNAME: CARLOS

AGE: 15

NATIONALITY: Filipino

Karting Series: KT 100 National Series

SCHOOL: Colegio San Agustin, Makati

 

A young high schooler from CSA, Carlos has a natural passion for racing when he joined City Kart Racing  Team Pro. Carlos always wanted to be a racing driver.

 

Still at a young age of 14, Carlos is a fan of Red Bull Racing, the reigning F1 champs. Unusually, where most of his teammates like F1 stars like Michael Schumacher or Ayrton Senna, Carlos chose Nigel Mansell instead, the Brit who won the F1 driver's title in 1992 and the Champ Car title in 1993.

“I like Mansell because of his great ability to pass other drivers,” said the young Carlos Lorenzo. Perhaps it's also because Carlos has a little of Mansell in him, as during his first kart race, Carlos Lorenzo came from behind to take first place on the very last lap of the 45 minute race heat at City Kart Racing Circuit in Makati.

He idolizes Tom Cruise, loves to eat bacon and notes Senna as his all-time favorite movie. 

NAME: Tai Alexander Zulberti

NICKNAME: Taitanium

AGE: 11

NATIONALITY: Argentinian/Canadian

Karting Series: Mini Rok National Series & Minirok Asian Series

SCHOOL: International School Manila

  

One of the youngest in the CKR Pro Team, Tai has always dreamt of racing. As an infant, Tai only played with toy cars until he turned 7 years old, and was given his first drive of a motorized kart in Singapore.

A true motorsport enthusiast with a passion for racing, Tai dreams of one day joining the ranks of Formula One, perhaps with his favourite team, Scuderia Ferrari. Ferrari's top driver, Fernando Alonso is his idol, as he looks up to how humble the man seems yet is so fast and aggressive on the racetrack.

He describes himself as a very aggressive driver, and recalls one moment during a race at the Clark International Speedway.

“I had to defend my position during the very last lap of the race at Clark,” comments the young Zulberti. “I may have started last in the heat because of a mechanical problem, but I was still able to take first place.”

Tai joined City Kart Racing Team Pro because he liked the idea of having hands-on driver coaching and the competitive yet fun spirit he enjoys with his teammates.

Tai Zulberti just won the overall 2012 Championship in Cadet Expert. And looking forward to the next racing season as he moves on to Mini rok class!

Both racers showed their skill in kart racing..

Forgot what was my race time last 2011 but last Saturday was 30.8..

Wonder what the rate is? According to their branch manager, one can enjoy and experience go karting for 350 pesos which is for 10 minutes.

I, myself had fun and will definitely go back and race.. Next time with friends..

Petron, the country’s leading oil company, has come up with a value-packed card that rewards its loyal customers with rewards and privileges. The Petron Value Card is available to everyone who patronizes Petron products or services. 

To join, you simply need to present P500-worth of Petron receipts at any participating Petron station. The attendant will immediately process your Petron Value Card and issue it to you on-site so you can start enjoying the perks that come with the card. 

First, Petron Value Card allows you to earn points that you can use to pay for products and services at participating Petron establishments. Every P250-worth of fuel spend is worth 1-point, which has a cash value of P1. 

The Petron Value Card is also a discount card. You get P10-off on every Gasul 11kg. at participating Petron establishments. You also have a P10 discount for every liter or P40 discount for every gallon of Petron automotive lubricants at participating Petron stations and car care centers. Plus, you get 5% off on SMC products at San Mig Food Ave. 

By accumulating a minimum of 5-points from the preceding month, a Petron Value Card holder is automatically covered with P10,000 personal accident insurance and P1,000 medical reimbursement from MAPFRE Insular. You are also eligible for free 24-hour towing and roadside assistance nationside from Ibero Asistencia. Certain restrictions apply for both privileges. 

To give you even more benefits, the Petron Value Card is also honored at selected business establishments so you can enjoy freebies, discounts and special offers on dining, personal care, and travel and leisure products and services. Simply present your Petron Value Card to avail of the offers. 

Petron has the largest retail network with more than 2,000 service stations bringing its superior automotive fuels closer to motorists. It remains at the forefront of fuels technology and continuously pioneers ground-breaking products formulated for the lifestyles of customers. Petron Blaze, for instance, is one of the few—if not the only—commercially available gasoline in the world with a 100-octane rating.

Gassing up with Petron and paying with your MasterCard could win you a free trip to the Formula One Grand Prix! The "Blaze Your Way to the Grand Prix" promo is an e-raffle running from July 15 to September 15, 2012.

Every P2,000 single receipt purchase of Petron fuels, Petron lubricants or Gasul using your Mastercard at a participating Petron station entitles the cardholder to one electronic raffle entry. If the single receipt is worth P4,000, then the customer is entitled to two electronic raffle entries. Partnering with Petron in this exciting promo are Mastercard and Business Mirror.

To join, the MasterCard holder must register on the Petron Facebook page and click on the "Grand Prix" application tab to fill in the following information: cardholder name, birthday, email address, mobile number, issuing bank, last 4 digits fo MasterCard card number, approval code, transaction date, and transaction amount. The cardholder will receive an automatic email reply with a randomly assigned electronic raffle number. The promo is open to individuals at least 18 years old and holders of a valid Philippine passport.

There will be three monthly minor draws and two grand draws. A total of thirty winners will win Petron Value Cards with pre-loaded points worth P10,000 each; forty winners to Grand Prix Races viewing parties; and four grand draw winners for a trip to watch the Singapore and Abu Dhabi Grand Prix Races. A participant may win only once in the promotion. Non-winning entries will be included in succeeding minor and grand draws.

Winners of the Petron Value Cards must first accomplish the prescribed Application Form. Winners of the Grand Prix viewing parties may bring three guests each. Winners of the Grand Prix trips to Singapore and Abu Dhabi may bring one guest each. All prizes are tax-paid and are transferable but not cash-convertible.

Winners will be notified via registered mail, phone, and general circulation media (newspaper and website), and contacted for confirmation with instruction son how to claim their prizes. Winners must present two valid IDs along with the winning credit card as well as the statement of account and registered notice from Petron.

Winners will be responsible for their travel documents and other travel-related expenses such as changes in confirmed bookings, out-of-pocket expenses, spending money, meals, visas and travel insurance.

Petron is the largest oil refining and marketing company in the Philippines. Its oil refinery produces a full-range of petroleum products to supply nearly 40% of the country's total fuel requirements. With the largest service station network in the country, Petron retails gasoline, diesel and kerosene to motorists. Petron is dedicated and passionate about its vision to be the leading provider of total customer satisfaction solutions in the energy sector and its derivative businesses.