Penang, Malaysia. It is a common belief that racing improves the breed. But in the 2007 Yamaha ASEAN Cup, racing did not only improve the breed, it also promoted camaraderie.
The Yamaha ASEAN Cup, which was held from December 14 to 16 at the Batu Kawan race circuit in Seberang Prai, Butterworth, Penang Malaysia, is a motorcycle race where top riders from Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand compete against each other riding a modified racing version of the Yamaha Sniper 135 (known as the 135LC in Malaysia) in the Expert 135cc class and a modified racing version of the Yamaha Crypton Z 110 (Lagenda 110) in the Novice 110cc class. Now on its fifth year, the Yamaha ASEAN Cup has attracted and developed numerous ASEAN riders into world-class racers.
The Philippines fielded its first and sole rider in the 2004 Yamaha ASEAN Cup, then 16-year-old Maico Greg Buncio, who was racing motorcycles since he was five years old. Maico gained a lot of international racing experience from the ASEAN Cup, as well as made a lot of friends, including Indonesian top riders Harlan Fadillah and Doni Tata, who’s now competing in the 250cc class of the MotoGP. Maico has since improved his skills and talent in motorcycle racing, becoming the 2006 400cc National Champion in his rookie year and the 2007 600cc Superbike Expert National Champion, also in his rookie year in the Philippine series. He also won the 2007 125cc Underbone National Championship.
Maico, along with Jaime Barcial and Rizaldy Canare, represented the country in the Expert 135cc class in this year’s Yamaha ASEAN Cup while Mark Anthony Barcial, Anthony Roman, Rowel Bongon, Jeffrey Chan and Armando Canare Jr. raced in the Novice 110cc class. The team manager for Team Philippines was Atsushi Suzuki, the Service Head of the newly-established Yamaha Motor Philippines, Inc. (YMPH), who was assisted by Jude Camus, supervisor of YMPH’s Advertising and Promotions Department. It was the first time for the company to join the Yamaha ASEAN Cup as YMPH.
With the riders and the mechanics, Team Philippines flew to Malaysia with the hopes of bringing home the vaunted Yamaha ASEAN Cup. But their goal of taking the Cup home would take a little longer because the Indonesian and Thai riders had more racing experience and better pit work while the Malaysian riders had both, coupled with the home track advantage. At the end of the race, Indonesian riders Hokky Krisdianto and Florianus Roy captured the first and second places in the Expert 135cc class while Malaysian Elly Idzlianizar Ilias took home the second spot. In the Novice 110cc class, Malaysian Elly Idzliaikmal Ilias came in third, Thai rider Chanon Chumjai came in second and Indonesian Sigit PD crossed the finish line in first to give Team Indonesia the 2007 Yamaha ASEAN Cup team championship. Team Malaysia captured the second place, Team Thailand got the third berth, Team Philippines got fourth place and Team Singapore landed in the fifth spot.
Team Philippines manager Suzuki said that YMPH would support Philippine motorcycle racing to develop riders for world class competition as he hopes to get the best of the best among the Filipino riders to capture the Yamaha ASEAN Cup next year in Thailand. In the mean time, Suzuki-san and the rest of the team also enjoyed the camaraderie and the warmth of the friendship between the riders of the five ASEAN nations during the post-race celebrations. “While Yamaha is promoting its brand in the ASEAN region through the races, we are also fostering close camaraderie among the different nationalities involved in the Yamaha ASEAN Cup series,” said Suzuki. Indeed, Yamaha has improved not only its motorcycle breed through racing but improved the relationship between the competing countries as well.