Giti-Formula V1 Series to Start on May 12 at Batangas Racing Circuit

The Giti-Formula V1 Series is set to take to the starting line soon as race organizer Tuason Racing School (TRS) has released the schedule for the inaugural season. The first race will take place on May 12 and 13 at the Batangas Racing Circuit while the succeeding three races will take place at the Clark International Speedway on August 10 and 11, October 26 and 27, and November 24. For the races, the first three will be sprint runs--much like how the Vios Cup is run which, incidentally, is also organized by TRS--while the last race will be a four-hour endurance race. As for the series' overall winner at the end of the season, he or she will get the opportunity to compete in a V1 series race at the end of the year at the Fuji Speedway in Japan. The Formula V1 car is a Vita 01 open-cockpit, single-seater race car with a highly-rigid semi-monocoque, large-diameter tubular frame chassis created by West Racing Cars from Japan. Powering it is a 1.5-liter engine sourced from Toyota that's paired to a five-speed manual transmission for an output of 108 hp. While the power produced seems humble, the 530-kilogram lightweight chassis more than makes up for it. According to TRS boss JP Tuason, at the eight-hour 2017 Philippine Endurance Challenge where the car made its local competition debut, the Vita 01 was lapping much more powerful cars that it was able to secure the overall victory. For the initial Giti-Formula V1 Series race, eight teams have been formed though Tuason hopes to have 15 teams on the grid before year-end.