Ocampo leads Subaru contingent

ONLY a five-minute break every six hours

Seventy hardy souls took up the challenge, and only 10 have emerged victorious. In a test of will and endurance that took no less than 12 hours, Motor Image Pilipinas now has the team that will represent the Philippines in the upcoming Subaru Challenge in Singapore.

The 10 survivors will have a shot at a brand-new Subaru Impreza 2.0AT staked as the prize for the Singapore grand final champion.

The 10 qualifiers from the 2011 Subaru Impreza Challenge Manila leg will be headed by the winner, Robert Ocampo, an administrative assistant, who outlasted his rivals after logging a time of 12 hours and 36 minutes.

Ocampo and company will face an even tougher mission ahead based on last year’s result where Singaporean Aloysius Lim stood his ground for 75 hours and 17 minutes to outlast 399 other challengers from Singapore and other countries or territories in the region like Malaysia, Thailand and Hong Kong.

Unique event

Contestants of the Subaru Impreza Palm Challenge will have to stand and place their right hands on the assigned palm decals positioned around various portions of Subaru Impreza cars.

They are only allowed a five-minute break every six hours.

Flying to Singapore for the October 29 finals, Ocampo will be joined by other challengers composed of Edgardo Marcos (who lasted 12:35:15), Anna Carizo (12:34:10), Roberto Tomas (12:31:02), Danilo Biadog (12:12:05), Rey Pizana (12:07:44), Carlo Garcia (12:05:22), Alex Neblasca (12:04:22), the 2009 and last year’s Philippine champion Apple Balibado (12:03:07), and Kris Uy (12:00:53).

They will enjoy an all-expense paid trip to Singapore from October 29 to November 2 as part of the Philippine contingent.

THE BANANA Challenge required participants to balance in a 90-degree angle using their left arm while still holding onto the car using their other palm.

The top three finishers won cash prizes while the rest of the qualifiers also took home a 19-inch Toshiba Power TV LCD units.

Best bet

“They are our best bets and they should be ready for the tough challenge ahead of them. They, too, endured several challenges here like carrying bottles of water in their left hands while still maintaining their right hands on the Subaru Imprezas. Another challenge to break their will was the banana challenge which they had to balance in a 90-degree angle using their left arm while still holding onto the car using their other palm,” related Mariano, GM of Motor Image Pilipinas, exclusive distributor of the Subaru brand in the country.

Added to these new challenges were other prohibitions, which included not being allowed to have any accessories like sunglasses, hats or sweatbands during the competition, as well as any change of apparel or footwear.

The Philippine leg was held at the Eastwood City Activity Center last August 20.

Though the Philippine Team brought home the Country Team award last year for being the best non-Singaporean contingent in the challenge, Mariano is looking forward to having a Filipino driving home the much-coveted Impreza.

The record for the Subaru Challenge was set by Singaporean George Lee in 2008, who was the last man standing after 81 hours and 32 minutes. Last year’s winner, Mohammed Anuar, lasted 77 hours and 43 minutes.