Malabanan, Farr qualify for AsPac Downhill tiff

MANILA, Philippines - Team Prima riders Jing Malabanan and Frederick “Eboy” Farr topped their respective divisions recently in the three-leg national series of Downhill Riders Organization of the Philippines (DROP) to qualify for the upcoming Asia-Pacific Downhill Challenge slated Nov. 17-18 at Sentul, West Java, Indonesia.

Malabanan, a veteran mountain biker, ruled the 30-39 years category in the Manila, Visayas and Mindanao legs to accumulate 995 points, while Reu Balicha (444) and Epi Cruz (429) settled for second and third place.

“It was a great motivation I got from Team Prima and my family as I swept the entire national series, to qualify as one of the representatives of the Philippines in the Indonesian tournament,” said Malabanan, expressing his gratitude to Team Prima owner Alex Lim for the latter’s all-out support for the Prima cycling team.

Farr qualified for the Indonesia meet after leading in the Expert category with 907.5 points, followed by Erick “Jon-Jon” De Leon with 830 and Eugenio Jong Sunga with 659.

“It really inspires me to represent my country on behalf of DROP and Team Prima,” said Farr, who also won a gold medal in last year’s Downhill Masters’ event at the Singapore National Open Cycling Championship.

Farr’s son John Derick (Jerich), also from Team Prima, finished second in the Open Elite class with 810 points behind national team rider Eleazar Barba, who topped the category with 980 points. Parabanne Mendoza was third with 700.5 points. 

Jerich,15, is the youngest rider in the Open Elite category.

The Team Prima riders competed in the first national leg at the Patiis Racetrack in Montalban, Rizal last April, followed by the second leg in Ravina, Guimaras in Iloilo last June and at the recent Malasag Racetrack in Cagayan De Oro.

The qualifying system for the Asia-Pacific Downhill Challenge in Indonesia is based on the points accumulated in the three national legs.