2025 Philippine Masters – Chassis Focus Index

Last weekend we attended the world class 1:8 Offroad race that is the Philippine Masters.  Asia’s premier annual offroad event akin to what the TITC is to the world of Electric Touring Car, 2025 marked the biggest edition of the Manila based race yet in terms of total entries, the number of countries represented, and the dept of top level team drivers.  The second round of the Cayote backed Asian Buggy Championships, it was Philippine Masters regular Davide Ongaro who took the TQ from first time visitors Burak Kilic and Kouki Kato.  In the 1-hour main however Ongaro suffered a rare mechanical (receiver failure) while fuel tank issues also ended Kilic’s race early.  Putting in a super consistent drive Infinity’s Kato took the win, the Japanese talent making it 2 from 2 in the Asian Buggy Championships adding to his win at the season finale in Indonesia last year.  In eBuggy, A1 proved the entertainment highlight of the weekend as Ongaro, having being passed for the lead by Pekko Iivonen, tried to retake the lead on a thrilling final lap.  With Iivonen holding on for a hugely popular win, Ongaro took A2 before Ryan Lutz took the third however overall it was Ongaro’s victory.  During our time at the Circulo Verde Track we got the chance to photograph 9 buggies from 6 different manufacturers including Mayako’s all new prototype eBuggy.  In case you missed any of the Chassis Focus’ during our coverage of the race, we have compiled them all in our latest Chassis Focus index.

Nitro Buggy

Kouki Kato (Q3/Winner) – Infinity

Mattia Poilto (Q6/P3 ) – Sworkz

Davide Ongaro  (Top Qualifiers/DNF) – Team Associated

Burak Kilic (Q2/DNF) – Mugen Seiki

Pekko Iivonen – (Q7/P4) – Mayako

Ryan Lutz (Q5/P5) – Kyosho

eBuggy

Davide Ongaro  (Top Qualifiers/Winner) – Team Associated

Pekko Iivonen – (Q2/P2) – Mayako

Ryan Lutz (Q4/P3) – Kyosho