How Mazda Philippines Won the Horsepower Race
Angie King had quit racing after a bad crash in Monza. She came back and built the fastest Miata in the country.
by Alvin Uy
Published on Feb 28, 2026
In a year when Philippine motorsports felt both fiercely competitive and deeply nostalgic, Mazda Philippines managed to do something rare: it honored heritage while rewriting history.
Mazda's most significant impact in 2025 happened on track, under pressure, and against the clock.
Mazda Philippines became the first brand to sweep all three legs of the Petron Makabayan Cup in a single season. Considered the most demanding endurance circuit race in the country, the Makabayan Cup consists of three grueling rounds: the 4-hour Kagitingan Cup, the 12-hour Kalayaan Cup, and the 8-hour Bonifacio Cup.
The underpowered Miata that came out on top
Held at Clark International Speedway and Batangas Racing Circuit, the series is as symbolic as it is punishing, with each leg staged on historically significant dates. At the center of Mazda's campaign was the #55 Team MSCC Mazda Miata, based on the MX-5. It retained its stock 2.0-liter Skyactiv-G engine producing 184 PS and 205 Nm — no exotic power build, no headline output figures.
Mazda doubled down on the MX-5's core philosophy: lightness, mechanical balance, and reliability.
Despite being down on outright power against purpose-built race cars, the #55 Miata swept the season and set new lap records across all three legs, including a blistering 2:06.6 around the 4.189-kilometer Clark circuit.
For a platform that began its Makabayan journey as a one-off entry in 2017 and formally entered the series in 2019, this wasn't overnight success. It was the culmination of seven years of refinement — from the "Imagine" livery in 2022 to a full carbon-fiber transformation in 2024, the car reached what many consider its ultimate form in 2025 with the addition of a quick-shifting sequential gearbox. As Mazda Philippines President Steven Tan put it, the season was the product of long-term belief in the MX-5 platform.
But cars don't win endurance races alone.
Behind the wheel of #55 was a roster of seasoned racers led by Angie King, along with Windy Imperial, Tyson Sy, Juha Turalba, Matt Solomon, and Milo Rivera. The program, backed by Mazda Philippines and headed by Edgen Dy-Liacco, blended factory-level backing with grassroots grit.
For King, 2025 was more than a championship run. It was redemption.
"I crashed in Monza 2017 badly and it bruised my ego so I quit," she said. "I never finished a race from a three-day weekend. When Windy invited me to try out the first endurance entry I was literally saying no a few times, but he managed to convince me to try it out. And the rest is history."
Angie King after winning with her Miata
Endurance vs. Sprint: Two Different Wars
While the Makabayan Cup campaign was her primary focus — "to do a grand slam victory," as she put it — she also competed in the MSCC Miata Spec sprint series. She missed one race weekend, yet still finished third overall in the Shell Pro Class.
"The MSCC I join for fun," she said. "I have nothing to prove with my racing so I just go out and have fun. It's like a catch up with a lot of friends for me."
The two disciplines demand different minds. "Sprint racing is about being super focused and aggressive, which you cannot sustain in endurance," she explained. "Endurance is about pacing yourself, the car, the tires and the fuel."
"Endurance racing is a test of machine, wit, strategy, drivers — it's such a fun mix of things to take into account," she added. "I am happy that Steven has trusted me to develop a dominating car with a perfect platform to springboard from. The Miata is perfect for this and we made it even better."
She even has "one last wish list page" to refine the car further.
The Rise of the "Angieneer"
When asked whether the season was about proving something to others or rediscovering something within herself, King's answer cut to the chase.
"This season was proving to myself that I am not only a driver, I am an Angieneer as well," she said. "Making sure we put in the right parts and ideas to make a very underpowered car perform well."
"To know that we have crushed every milestone in PH endurance racing is a great feeling. And to know we have the fastest Miata in the Philippines is another thing to brag about."
Her ambitions don't stop there. The technical lessons from the Mazda program feed directly into her time attack projects. "I owned the fastest lap record for a few years which was taken away last year," she said.
"The things I am learning with the Mazda project is to help me springboard into my other time attack cars — to grab the top record again of the fastest car on CIS."
Mazda is Hell Bent on Shaping the Racing Landscape
Mazda Philippines' influence last year went beyond trophies. The Makabayan sweep set a new competitive benchmark. The MSCC Miata Spec campaign kept one-make culture thriving. And through drivers like King — who returned from setback to become both racer and engineer — the program reshaped what a Philippine motorsports comeback story looks like.
In an era obsessed with horsepower figures, Mazda proved something refreshingly old-school: balance still wins, endurance still matters, and conviction in a platform can change an entire landscape.
King, her winning team, and of course, the Miata
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