Since its first foray into endurance racing, AutoPerformance Motorsport has been one of the most successful teams in the field. After a five-year hiatus, the 2018 Philippine Endurance Champions are finally returning to competitive motorsport. The newly renamed AutoPerformance Kick-Start Racing team was formally launched last Sunday, May 19, with the intent of competing once again at the highest level in the sport’s most grueling discipline.
During the launch, the race car was displayed in the Aguila Auto Glass booth at the Super Sprint Clinic event, held at Parklinks, Quezon City. There was free flowing coffee care of Kick-Start Coffee, the team held contract signings with various sponsors, and the team did some autocross runs. The highlight of the day, however, was a special activity with the Miss Possibilities Foundation and Super Sprint. The Miss Possibilities Foundation is a non-profit organization that raises awareness and gives assistance to families with kids with special needs. And on this day, children with the Miss Possibilities Foundation were given shotgun rides in the BMW M3 racecar, along with other race cars whose owners volunteered to give rides to the kids.
“Being able to spend time with these amazing kids was an amazing experience,” explained Francis Aguila, driver and Team Principal. “I am grateful to the people behind the Miss Possibilities Foundation and the great guys of Super Sprint for allowing us to share our passion for racing with the kids. To see the big smiles on their faces was priceless.”
“The Miss Possibilities Foundation was thrilled to see the pure joy and excitement on the faces of children with disabilities as they experienced thrilling rides in racecars,” said Suzanna Yuzon, Founder and President of the Miss Possibilities Foundation. “We extend our heartfelt thanks to AutoPerformance Kick-Start Racing, Super Sprint, Aguila Glass, and all the staff and drivers for making this unforgettable day possible.”
This, however, was not the team’s first attempt at a comeback – a 2022 campaign was aborted after the team’s BMW M3 race car caught fire on track during a test day. While it was fortunate that no one was hurt, it caused a two-year setback to the team’s plans.
With repairs all done, some upgrades installed, and a new black-and-white livery, the AutoPerformance M3 is finally ready for action. “It was a long and painful process getting back to this point where we are ready to go endurance racing again,” said Stefan Ramirez, the team’s driver and the man charged with the rebuild. “But we never lost hope, and our partners, particularly Kick-Start Coffee and Goodyear Philippines, believe in us and in our team.”
“I have a huge passion for coffee, and an equal passion for cars and racing,” said Michael Asuncion, President of Silca Coffee, the company behind the Kick-Start Coffee brand. “Kick-Start Coffee’s blends are crafted specifically to get you started on even the most challenging tasks, and there is perfect synergy between our values and those of the racing team. As we like to say, we want to ‘Kick-Start Something’ – in this case, it’s AutoPerformance Kick-Start Racing.”
“We are thrilled to partner with AutoPerformance Motorsport to showcase the incredible capabilities of the Eagle F1 Asymmetric 6 tires,” said Peter Benjamin Gonzales, General Manager at Goodyear Philippines, Inc. and Goodyear Vietnam. “Our goal is to demonstrate the exceptional performance, handling, and braking of these tires, and we believe that AutoPerformance Motorsport’s expertise in automotive performance and racing will help us achieve that.”
Alongside Kick-Start Coffee and Goodyear Philippines, AutoPerformance Kick-Start Racing is sponsored by the Brembo Official Store, Aguila Auto Glass, Rota, Sonax, PIAA, JBL Car Audio, Ctek, Cameltow Towing Service, Bilstein, H&R Springs, and Sabelt. The team is also supported by OneLife Studio, Atlas Land, Ensport Motors, AG Tune N Lube, Victor Hardware, Yale Hardware, and SRA Racing. AutoPerformance Kick-Start Racing would also like to thank Robert and Jill Tan of Super Sprint and Johnmel and Suzanna Yuzon of the Miss Possibilities Foundation.