José "Pocholo" del Rosario Ramírez de Arellano (January 19, 1933 – March 18, 2009), better known as Pocholo Ramírez, was a Filipino race car driver and television host. Also known as "Tito Poch", Ramirez was hailed as a racing legend in the Philippines, with a career in racing that spanned 45 years.

Racing career

Ramirez was born in Manila, Philippines. He began his racing career at the age of 30, beginning as a

kart Kart racing or karting is a road racing variant of motorsport with open-wheel, four-wheeled vehicles known as go-karts or shifter karts. They are usually raced on scaled-down circuits, although some professional kart races are also held on ful ...

racer, then as a rally car driver starting in 1964. He won the Shell Car Rally Championship in 1966 and 1970, and was named Slalom Driver of the Year in 1967 and 1968. Ramirez began circuit racing in 1969 and formula racing in 1974. Between 1973 and 1986, Ramirez participated in several prominent Grand Prix races in Southeast Asia, including the

Macau Grand Prix The Macau Grand Prix ( pt, Grande Prémio de Macau; ) is a motorsport road race for automobiles and motorcycles held annually in Macau. It is the only street circuit racing event in which both cars and motorcycles participate, and one of onl ...

, the

Malaysian Grand Prix The Malaysian Grand Prix (officially the Malaysia Grand Prix from 1963–1965 and 2011–2017 and Malayan Grand Prix in 1962) was an annual auto race held in Malaysia. It was part of the Formula One World Championship from 1999 to 2017 and it ...

, the

Selangor Grand Prix Selangor (; ), also known by its Arabic honorific Darul Ehsan, or "Abode of Sincerity", is one of the 13 Malaysian states. It is on the west coast of Peninsular Malaysia and is bordered by Perak to the north, Pahang to the east, Negeri Sembil ...

and the

Indonesian Grand Prix The Indonesian Grand Prix was an open-wheel racing car motor race, held intermittently as motorsport ambitions varied in Indonesia. History Held originally at the Jaya Ancol Circuit near Jakarta in 1976 as part of the burgeoning Rothmans Inte ...

. He placed second overall at the 1972 Macau Grand Prix (saloon car), and third overall the following year. Ramirez was named Best Southeast Asian driver during the 1978 and 1979 runs of the Macau Grand Prix. In 1995, Ramirez established the

Subic International Raceway Subic International Raceway was a Race track, racing circuit at the Subic Freeport Zone in the Philippines. It was built in 1993, through the efforts of famed race car driver Pocholo Ramirez. History The eruption of Mount Pinatubo in 1991 led to ...

at Zambales. The racetrack at Subic soon became the haven of hundreds of race car drivers who would train there, and would eventually host several international and local racing events. Ramirez raced competitively until around 2008, when he was 75 and already battling cancer. In 2000, he was the Blaze Super Saloon Champion. Shortly before his death, Ramirez was inducted by the Automobile Association Philippines into its Hall of Fame.

Personal life

He is survived by his wife, Ellen, and children José André "Kookie"†, Georges, Louis, Michelle and Miguel.

In media

Ramirez was the long-time co-anchor (together with Butch Gamboa) of the racing show ''

Motoring Today {{Infobox television , image = MotoringToday.jpg , image_upright = , image_size = 260 , image_alt = , caption = , alt_name = , native_name = , genre ...

'', which aired on the

People's Television Network People's Television Network ( fil, Telebisyon ng Bayan; abbreviated PTV) is the flagship State broadcasting, state broadcaster owned by the Government of the Philippines. Founded in 1974, PTV is the main brand of People's Television Network, In ...

. In 2005, Ramirez gained renewed popularity when he appeared in a popular advertisement for

Petron Petron Corporation is the largest oil refining and marketing company in the Philippines, supplying more than a third of the country's oil requirements. It operates a refinery in Limay, Bataan with a rated capacity of . From the refinery, Petro ...

, taking on a driving challenge that required him to traverse 1,114 kilometers across the Philippines on one full tank of gas. His tag line, "Traffic? Bring it on!" became popular and was widely imitated.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ramirez, Pocholo 1933 births 2009 deaths Sportspeople from Manila Filipino racing drivers Filipino television personalities Deaths from cancer in the Philippines