One of the most highly anticipated events annually held by Toyota Motor Philippines (TMP) is the Vios Racing Festival. Now, if the event doesn’t sound too familiar, some of you might remember the series by its previous name – the Vios Cup.

This 2020, the 2nd season of the Vios Racing Festival was set to be held over the course of several months. However, as the COVID-19 pandemic swept across the country and Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ) was put in place, no racing has taken place. In fact, no sporting events have been allowed since.

But now that some places in the country have been put under General Community Quarantine (GCQ) and even Modified GCQ, sports activities have been allowed once more. Specifically, according to IATF guidelines, only non-contact sports (running, biking, golf, swimming, etc.) are allowed. Though it wasn’t stated, technically speaking, motorsport is also a non-contact sport. As such, we wondered whether Season 2 of the Vios Racing Festival will continue to be held at a later date this year.

Unfortunately, for those of you waiting for the event, we do have some bad news. According to TMP, no racing will be taking place this year. Season 2 of the Vios Racing Festival has officially been postponed to 2021. According to the automaker, their top priority is to ensure the safety of everyone involved in the project and event.

Considering that the number of COVID-19 cases continues to rise in the country, it might be a while before things normalize. Holding one race of the Vios Racing Festival often takes hundreds of people to organize. There are also numerous fans from across the country that come to see drivers and celebrities race on the track. As a result, it would be unsafe to hold the event given that the virus continues to spread across the country.

“TMP values the safety and well-being of our participants, partners, and the general public above all else. With this, we have decided to suspend the event this year. We look forward to resume with an even more exciting Vios Racing Festival in 2021,” said Atsuhiro Okamoto, TMP president. 

We’ll have to wait another year before we see the Toyota Vios cup cars start racing on the circuit again. But at least we’ll be sure it will be a safe event to be in once they do.