MANILA, Philippines - Niño Fabian of Castrol-Dudshop and Johnlery Enriquez of JVT Racing ruled separate races recently in the second leg of the 2013 Philippine Underbone King Championships and the FDR Philippine Scooter Racing Championships at the Batangas Racing Circuit.
Fabian prevailed in the tight and heart-stopping three-way sprint to the finish line to capture his first major career win in the premier 150cc Open class of the underbone championships while Johnlery Enriquez copped his back-to-back crown in the 180cc. Automatic Scooter event to fortify his solo leadership in the scooter racing championships.
Both races are sanctioned by the Underbone and Scooters Racing Association (USRA) and sponsored by Petronas Oils, FDR (official tires) and media partners Racing Beat @ Wave 89.1, Inside Motoring @ DZRJ810khz and Motorsiklo Xklusibo @ DZME 1530.
Fabian started fourth on the grid but when Castrol-Dudshop teammate and defending underbone king Anthony Roman started skidding back, he prompty caught up with Marvin Mangulabnan of HGM and Tracy Soyangco.
From there, the race went unpredictable as the three riders took turns at the lead while dicing each other throughout the seven-lap race. But Fabian took a bold move going into the last curve to secure the top spot all the way to the finish line to capture the 150cc Open crown by just 0.468 of a second ahead of Mangulabnan. Soyangco checked in third, 0.533 behind.
Roman ended fourth while former underbone king Masato Fernando took fifth place.
Vrei-AR Suba also emerged 115cc Open champion over runner-up Clint Nolasco and third placer Robert Matthew Ramos.
Enriquez, on the other hand, kept composure throughout and banked on experience in the last 100 meters to clinch the 180cc. Automatic Scooter title by a narrow 0.392 of a second lead over JVT Racing teammates Ivan Santiago and reigning titlist Miko Montano.
Romer Corbe bagged the 160cc. Automatic Scooter crown over Gio Adriano and Vrei-AR Suba while John Paul Suba claimed the 130cc. Automatic Scooter title over Koko Tadachi and Jacob Navarro.
The other winners include Herbert Lopez in the MTRT Cup, Roman Santos in the Honda Dash and Gian Carlo Mauricio in the Honda Beat.