Gaby dela Merced is a Filipino driver who raced single-seaters in the 2000s, up to Asian Formula 3 level.
She was fourteenth in the 2006 Asian Formula 3 championship, racing in the Promotion class. Her best overall finish was seventh, at Batul in Indonesia. She also ran quite well at Batanga and Zhuhai. One of her rivals was Michele Bumgarner. The two were the highest-scoring Filipino drivers, from five, with Gaby the second highest.
She first raced saloons in 2002, after two seasons in slalom and autocross. Her first championship was the SVI Challenge Cup and she was third in the novice class. Her car is not recorded, but her car for the same series in 2003 was a Honda Civic. She won at least two races at Subic International Raceway and was second in the championship, after duelling with her team-mate Mikko David at the front all year.
She also competed in the BRC (Batanga Racing Circuit) Production Touring Car Championship, finishing third.
Later, she raced in a Formula Toyota championship in the Philippines, which used a Japanese-spec single-seater with slicks and wings. She was runner-up in Formula Toyota in 2004 and also competed in half of the Asian Formula BMW championship, driving for Team Tec Pilipinas. Her best finish was eleventh, at Beijing. She had been awarded a scholarship drive for Formula BMW and this was her prize drive. The scholarship was decided via a shootout at Johor in Malaysia, and this was the first time she had driven a single-seater.
Post-Formula 3, she attempted to launch her career in America, like her compatriot Michele Bumgarner would manage the year after. However, she could not find a seat anywhere with the money she had.
Between 2006 and 2009, she does not appear to have raced much, and concentrated on her TV career, which included a stint on Filipino Big Brother. She made her comeback, racing in endurance events in the USA. One of these races was the 2008 25 Hours of Thunderhill, where she shared a BMW M3 with Robbie Montinola and Angelo Barretto. The all-Filipino team was twelfth overall and sixth in class. Earlier in the year, she made a guest appearance in the PTC at Subic.
She had to stop racing in 2010 after a knee injury. This was later found to be due to an inflammatory condition which needed surgery. This limited her participation for quite some time. For about five years in total, she had to stop doing all sports.
What also did not help was Gaby's involvement in a so-called Filipino racing team designed to get Filipino drivers into NASCAR. This 2013 plan turned out to involve no racing at all; a supposed multinational race at Charlotte was reduced to a driving experience day more commonly sold to complete novices. Gaby was sanguine about her experiences, claiming that "sh** happens".
Her next adventure was the Transasia TA2 championship in 2014, based on the Trans Am formula in America. Her car was a 450bhp Ford stock car and she raced across Asia for a Korean team. She made a few guest appearances in the series after that.
After another long hiatus, she returned to Asian motorsport for the Giti Formula V1 Race Challenge in 2019. This is a sportscar championship using the same Vita prototype as the all-female Kyojo Cup in Japan. She also guested in the Thailand Super Series round at Sepang, sharing a TA2 Ford Mustang with Australian Jaylyn Robotham. They were 16th in one race.
Since then, she has done some drifting, and more media work, including some acting and TV hosting. Her last motorsport outings were the MSCC Mazda Cup in the Philippines in 2024.
She also competes in flag football, joining the Philippines womens' team in 2023.
(Image copyright Gaby dela Merced)
