QUESTION: When did the two of you first meet?
DALIA: We met at the NBC Tent during a rave party. He was there with another girl, and I was there to promote the Ford Lynx Cup. And he asked me, "You race?"--with such an attitude like he could never believe in a million years that I could drive. I thought he was a total a**hole, but I guess my opinion of him has changed since then.
ENZO: I wasn't with another girl. I was with my friends.
D: It was another girl!
E: She was my cousin's ex. Anyway, I went over to [Ford Lynx Cup organizer] JP Tuason to bug him. Then this girl named Dalia had herself introduced.
D: Excuse me! I'm not like that. You were looking at me, so JP introduced us. You wanted to know who I was. Don't lie. You know I looked good.
E: Fine, she looked good. She was glowing.
D: And so was his hair! (laughs)
E: Wait...who got my number?
D: Shut up! You wanted to get my number and you know that. You chased me. You went to BRC just to see me.
E: But who asked me over the first night?
D: Okay, fine, we are even. Next question.
Q: How did the courtship go exactly?
E: She seduced me.
D: That was so easy. All I did was talk to him.
E: For an hour!
D: Yeah, but you bought me a drink--at the party of the guy I used to date. Hah!
E: It worked. You got my number from him.
Q: Did the fact that both of you are racers, make the courtship easier?
E: Yeah, we like doing it fast.
D: We got to spend more time at the track, and got more time to see how each other was at our best and worst. And we have a lot of things in common. Not a lot of people in love have something that they both love to do and can do together.
Q: Did your respective cars play a role in the development of your relationship?
E: Which cars? My F3 and her Lynx?
D: No, my Subaru and your beat-up Integra! I think the cars that we drive every day didn't play a part in it. I feel that as long as a car looks decent, has aircon, and gets you from point A to point B comfortably, that is fine. Wait, does your car do that?
E: Most of the time. It hasn't broken down on us.
Q: When you go out, who usually drives? And whose car?
E: I drive.
D: Using my car though. It's more dependable--and not that noisy.
Q: Tell me the stuff I would find inside your partner's car.
E: Dirt!
D: No, that's your car. I vacuum my car; you just bring the dirt in.
E: I thought what was yours was mine, and what was mine was yours?
D: Nah. What's yours is mine, and what's mine is mine! Just kidding. Of course, we share everything. But he usually has a polo, the magazine in which I'm featured--and dirt.
E: She's actually kikay. Aside from her racing stuff, she has two pairs of shoes and a couple of shirts, vitamins, and drawings of dresses.
D: I have CDs, a lot of normal stuff, and a thick novel that I read when I bring him to school. I read so I don't get bored when I wait for him.
E: You only wait for me at school so the girls won't hit on me.
Q: Have you raced against each other?
E: On the track, time-wise. On the streets, I make her feel good.
D: Well, on the streets, the car plays a big role, and my having a turbocharged car is an unfair advantage for me. So I take advantage and win. I have to win sometimes, right?
E: It's funny how you can't leave me.
D: Well, hon, I could, but that would deflate your ego too much. And I want to make sure that you're okay, so I keep you within sight.
Q: Dalia, do you think you can beat Enzo on the racetrack?
D: One day, I will. I'm only 1.2 seconds off his time when we use the same car. And that was only the second time I drove the car.
E: Yeah, blindfolded at that.
D: Honey, you know that you don't have to tell everyone about my training secret.
E: She is good.
D: But I must admit without Enzo training me, I wouldn't have been able to progress this fast. He is more to me than just the love of my life. He is also my mentor in life and racing. He makes me push myself to the limit and beyond.
Q: Enzo, would you ever give Dalia's Impreza a car wash?
E: I actually do. She likes watching me when I get wet.
D: I don't think I would be able to finish washing Enzo's car. It would end up in kisses and a car full of suds.
Q: What is it about your partner's driving that irritates you the most?
D: He releases the clutch too fast, and the car jolts forward--and the fact that it's usually my car that he is driving. And he squeezes my car into all the little gaps on the road. It's scary because aside from Enzo, that is my other real love--that car is my baby.
E: She is too uptight, and her line of sight is very narrow and short.
D: Well, who was the one who drove over a big log in the middle of the highway? You can't say that my line of sight is as bad as yours. I don't run over things like that.
E: There was a truck that I thought was going to swerve into our lane.
D: Well, I saw both the truck and the log!
Q: Both of you are lookers, and it wouldn't be a stretch to assume that you both have your share of aggressive fans. How do you deal with your partner's admirers?
D: I wait outside school for them. Seriously, they can look at him and take pictures of him, but if they try anything, they know they're dead. They can admire from a distance.
E: I hate it when they look. I hate it when they say things. Admirers admire; those who want more than that, look elsewhere. The ratio now is eight girls to a guy. Find your own!
Q: What's your dream car?
E: Ferrari 550 Maranello for daily driving, Range Rover for my weekends out of town--the Hummer H2 is too big--and a gull-wing Mercedes-Benz for my Sunday driver.
D: McLaren F1 for my Sunday drives, Nissan Skyline GT-R for my everyday car, and a Merc SLR for when I go shopping.
Photos by Vernon B. Sarne