Although not really a fan of cars and not even familiar with those cars moving around me, I had the feeling that I should witness this very popular event that has been ongoing for three years now in Cebu. Specifically, this is always being featured by SM Cebu. Since the new host this year is in SM Seaside Cebu and that it is just a few minutes drive away from our house, I had then persuade my husband, James to join me. He is also interested about it so he can take photos of the said event and so we both planned to go there after work which was around seven in the evening.
Actually, Tour de Cebu is a 1000 kilometer road adventure across the Visayas. The event happening in SM Seaside is only the official launching and that's what we would like to witness since the thousand kilometer ride would be hard to follow through so we thought it would be better to join just the launching which was scheduled to start at around six in the evening. We both knew we were already late for an hour so we had to drive faster to SM so we can still catch up.
We reached there thirty minutes past seven in the evening and so we then walked straight to the SM Seaside Atrium. While we were still in the escalator, we could hear the music straight from the fashion show so we have to hurry. Gladly, we had found ourselves in front of these vintage cars being displayed at the back of the stage. Then we started taking photos and videos!
Tour de Cebu Overview
It might be a bit confusing what Tour de Cebu means but it was just coined as a mark of getting vintage cars such as a 1972 or older sports car prepped up and be challenged for a thousand kilometer ride. It is not a usual ride though as I can see it since they are vintage cars, they definitely will meet challenges while on the road.
Inspired by the popular, Mille Miglia event that tours around Italy, Tour de Cebu continues to grow since it started in 2014. Unlike the new cars, these vintage cars might have machine issues which has been probably fixed and some may even be reassembled for this event. It is one way of showing how sturdy these cars are even if hundreds of times had already passed. No traction control, no anti-lock brake system, no power steering no airbags, no side impact beams, if there is an aircon, it’s not that reliable and tail pipes that smell of gasoline, definitely not the best car to take a thousand ride.
But to give you a more detailed information on what this event is, I had made researched and found the answer at the Facebook page of Tour de Cebu itself.
The “Tour de Cebu” is a three-day “Mille Miglia-inspired” historic and touristic rally with regularity race covering 1,000 kilometers across the Visayas. The event is open to historic sports cars manufactured not later than Dec. 31, 1972 . Unlike speed races, Tour de Cebu is a regularity event which must be completed in a pre-defined time and not in the fastest time possible.
Crossing the line early or late makes no difference, you still gain penalty points. The winner is the car with the lowest penalty score. Adding features of a regularity race or time-controlled system to the already fun event elevates the participants’ experience to a whole new level.
The fun part here is that both driver and navigator will have to work closely together to face the challenges presented in the Road Book .
Basically, it is a competition of vintage cars and that it is a penalty points type of competition. It has been to different island of the Visayas and this year, it has opted to come to the beautiful island, my home province, Bohol. It is a Time, Speed, Distance (TSD) rally where the participants must maintain an average speed per stage of the rally and if you arrive early there are penalty points, the same thing if you arrive late.
One more thing that makes it really interesting is that the participants don’t know the route. Rally map will be given to the driver and his co-driver. The rally map it documents the whole point: where the bridges are, where to slow down and the what are traffic obstructions.
I immediately recalled my GoCart car when seeing this guy.
The participant is supposed to go through the map and figure out ideal time setting. For example, reaching point A to point B must be achieved in 20 minutes. If your arrive 16 minutes, you will be penalized four minutes. If you arrive 25 minutes, you will be penalize for every minute over. It will be an on-time, all the time race.
Definitely, the event had turned out successful and I will be sharing some information on what had happened on the said event. But for now, I will first provide you the happenings at the SM Seaside Cebu during the launching of the said event.
3rd Tour de Cebu 2016
photo courtesy of Tour de Cebu Official Facebook page
Definitely, the event promises to be a great weekend of Motoring which had started at the SM Seaside City Cebu with a mall display of the participating cars.
The public will get the chance to “meet and greet” the drivers and co-drivers some of which are celebrities in their respective fields. This will be followed by a Ceremonial Flag-Off coinciding with SM’s annual Gear and Glam Fashion event. The next days will bring the cars to the newly opened BE Grand Resort in Bohol where the three major rally stages will be held. Awarding ceremony will be staged at the Chateau de Busay in Cebu.
As mentioned above, it is a three day event which started on the 14th of October at SM Seaside showcasing some of the cars. This was the best time to meet the participants. Then the next day would be the start of their Cebu-Bohol-Cebu adventure.
This year's Heritage Sponsor and Official Tour de Cebu venue in BOHOL: BE Grand Resort in Panglao! Over 35 historic sports cars will have the most beautiful pitstop from October 14-16 at the newly opened BE Grand Resort. Combining contemporary design with laid-back waterfront chic, Be Grand Resort Bohol is your idyllic home away from home. It’s situated on the exclusive oasis of Panglao Island and enjoys a balmy climate all year-round. Boasting diverse dining options and a blissfully wonderful spa experience, Be Grand offers engaging service alongside a modern design that also incorporates an infusion of local flair.
Sponsors for the 2016 TOUR DE CEBU to date are BE Grand Resort (Heritage Sponsor and Official Venue in Bohol), SM SEASIDE CITY CEBU (Official Venue in Cebu), Petron, Sunlife Financial, Liqui Moly, Chateau de Busay and Johnny Air Plus. Official motoring magazine is C!. Radio sponsor is Retro Cebu 103.5!
And a new addition to their roster of partners- RICA's CAFE, NATURE SPRING and CINCO AUTO TOW SERVICE INC. (CATS)!
photo courtesy of Tour de Cebu Official Facebook page
The Glam Part
Reaching the SM Seaside Atrium, I was a bit regretful of coming here an hour later of the starting time as there were already music all around the vicinity and there were hundreds of heads surrounding the area which made it very hard for us to see the stage!
Gladly, some of the heads in front of us started to get away, perhaps already had seen the models and the cars but since we just arrived, we had to go into the aisle area and take photos of the models and the cars of course!
Glamorous fashion models and geared-up vintage cars conquered the whole Mountain Wing Atrium of SM Seaside City Cebu, I can literally see these tall, pretty models, all dressed up with clothing made by local fashion enthusiasts here in Cebu. That was a one-of-a-kind event which showcased the most valued cars starting from the ’90s with the venue the same of that Grand Prix in Monaco. This was made possible in partnership with Performance and Classic Enthusiasts (Pace) and Fashion Council of Cebu (FCC) and SM Seaside City Cebu as well, the team had delivered the commitment for showcasing both fashion and classical car exhibition.
For the glam part, the expertise and high-end fashion statement led by Philip Rodriguez, the FCC members flaunted the stage with exuberant designs and styles of Cary Santiago, Albert Arriba, Arcy Gayatin, Dino Lloren, Ditas Rodriguez, Edwin Ao, Jun Escario, Mia Arcenas, Oj Hofer, Philipp Tampus and Yvonne Quisumbing.
Tall models, obviously experienced to walk in the runway with the tall heels on their feet. There were also guy models around.
The Vintage Cars
As for the classic cars, I was really amazed seeing them in personal. I know I have seen some of them down the roads of the city but seeing more than ten of them at the same spot, parked and free to be pictured of is just a great opportunity that I never regret being able to witness.
I had taken a lot of photos that I had to post four videos of the coverage and two albums out of it.
But setting that aside, here's some information on these classic cars around.
“It is a touristic run. One of the goals is to highlight the beauty of the Visayan islands. The first two Tour de Cebu, we went to Negros, Dumaguete, Bacolod and San Carlos where there were beautiful coastal mountain roads. Now we’re going to Bohol. The idea here is we’re gonna bring out the beauty of the islands and as well as the safety of driving in the islands,” said Chris Tio, one of the organizers of this annual event.
There were 40 entries where 67 percent of the participants come from Cebu, there was one from Iloilo and another from Davao City. The participants must meet eligibility guidelines and will be scrutinized for safety and road worthiness.
The funny thing actually was that before the launching event ended, my husband and I were both having a hard time taking photos of the cars from a distant, we don't have any mighty zoom lens with us so we have to wait for the front guy to move before we could take a photo but then fortunately, we got back to the atrium after dinner and found that the entrance area was open for the rest of the people around to go inside and take photos.
Of course we took that opportunity to take closer photographs. That was one of the reasons why we were able to take closer photos of these vintage cars.
Thanks for reading my blog entry today!
Enjoy!
Regards,
