Supercross secret weapon

CEBU CITY – How do you get 40,000 people to stay in one place all day?

Dig up a world-class motocross track, invite riders from all over the Philippines and challenge them with some of the best riders in the world. That was the formula of the maiden leg of the Kopiko Astig 3-in-One Supercross Series’ maiden leg at the South Road Properties here. The organizers, Man & Machine, spent two weeks moving over 12,000 cubic feet of earth to make the track suitable and very challenging for an international race.

“We designed the track for the riders to really test their abilities,” admits Jonas Adlawan, president of Man & Machine. “That’s the only way they will get better. That’s also why we were very excited to have the team from Denmark here.”

Adlawan was referring to J.O. Racing team, brought over by owner Jens Nielsen. The team was led by Nikolaj Larsen, who is currently ranked number six in the world. His team featured 2012 Danish Rider of the Year Mathias Jorgensen and youth record-setter, 19-year old Sebastian Kaergaard. In 2009, Kaergaard became the youngest class A-1 rider in the history of Denmark.

Initially, the Danes had a difficult time adjusting to the climate. Denmark was snowing and registered a temperature of 16 degrees below zero when they left. But they quickly adjusted, and their competitive spirit kicked in, evening the playing field once again, aided by the rains and cloudy atmosphere Thursday to Saturday.

“We just have to make sure we drink a lot of water and adjust to the weather,” says Jorgensen. “It was tough, but we came here to compete and have fun.”

The visitors gave high marks to the organizers for the quality of track, which was harder than the sand tracks used in Europe. Many of the riders started practicing Tuesday for the weekend races. A total of 139 took part in heats in 15 categories, from the International races all the way down to Peewee, which included riders as young as five years old.

“It’s been a long time since we’ve seen a race this impressively run,” gushed veteran international rider Jovie Saulog in the vernacular. “We’re very grateful to Kopiko for sponsoring the series, and the organizers for doing a great job.”

Saulog, Glenn Aguilar and Cebu’s own Jonjon Adlawan were among the Filipinos who gave the foreigners very stiff competition. Aguilar was, in fact, running third in the first International heat Saturday, until an unfortunate spill on one of the last tabletops allowed Kaergaard, Adlawan and Saulog to pass him. A pair of foreign youth riders also entered other categories such as the Pro Lite division.

The series will have at least 12 races held towards the end of each month. Winners in the higher categories earn 25 points towards the cumulative Rider of the Year prize. Runners-up get 20 points each, while third-placers get 15. For Cebu alone, over P 500,000 in prizes was awarded to the most outstanding riders. Expecting about 15 teams to enter, the organizers were pleasantly surprised when over 60 teams joined, including 10 from Mindanao, bannered by the team of eight-time world boxing champion Manny Pacquiao, whose trainer Buboy Fernandez is an avid motocross rider.

The main concern of the organizers is to stay away from any politics in the sport. Since the ban on cigarette advertising, motor sports have been among those hardest hit. In recent years, a few private sponsors have been keeping motocross afloat. Last year Kopiko, one of the country’s leading coffee brands, committed to supporting the sport for at least three years, hence the Kopiko Astig 3-in-One Supercross Series.

The secret to the series’ success is simple: stay open for everybody to join, stay neutral, stay professional, and let the races speak for themselves.