By Tessa R. Salazar
Inquirer

INQUIRER MOTORING puts the spotlight on the individuals who have made their mark in local motorsports. Let’s start with the legendary “Tito Poch.”

“A single word would describe my wishes for motoring in 2008: consideration. If everyone would show some consideration toward other drivers, we would have less traffic, stress, accidents. Simple things like not blocking the way of the cars around you, not using two lanes to make a right turn, keeping the intersections open. These are all things that require only a little consideration on our part, and it will give everyone a better road system to drive in.” — Pocholo “Tito Poch” Ramirez, 74, co-host of “Motoring Today,” racing credentials here and abroad are too many to list down, one of which is winner of the Driver of the Year title five times in the 1970s

“My wish is to see our government invest more on road safety and also better implementation of road rules.” — JP Tuason, 32, founder of Tuason Racing School and two-time Karter of the Year.

“For local racing/motorsports to become more popular, by making it more accessible to Filipinos.” — Mike Tuason, 25, former Asian karting champion, JP’s younger brother

“My Christmas Wish: For the chance to travel around the world to compete in D1. For a team from the Philippines to be able to compete at the championships, for us to be recognized as world-class Pinoys worthy to compete beside the best drivers around the world.” — Michele Yu, 25, lady drifter

“To have better roads so I can ride my scooter around and enjoy the beauty of our countryside. I also wish that the other riders will think of road safety. New Year’s resolution — just to keep on riding!” — Ricky Montelibano, 44, Scooter Wars Vespa champion and Philippine Team Mountain biker

“To have a good 2008 that is full of new challenges and is full of new things for me to learn and will make me a better driver. New Year’s resolution — I’d like to stay as humble and down to earth as possible no matter what I accomplish in the future.” — Stefano Marcelo, 2007 Karter of the year and Asian Karting Open Champion

“My Christmas wish for motorsports: That the big corporate sponsors back the Filipino racer more so we can make use of the full potential of so many young racers in our country just waiting to make it into Formula 1 and other types of racing all over the world. My New Year’s resolution: That I will take more time out to teach aspiring racers the ins and outs of high-performance driving and get as many people into the sport as I can.” — Carlos Anton, 37, 2007 Philippine Hillclimb Champion; 2007 Philippine GT champion