MANILA, Philippines - Aprilia’s other talented ace rider Marvin Mangulabnan finally came out of his shell, revealing his true form to steal the spotlight from the much-talked about rivalry between teammate and defending champion Dashi Watanabe and Ducati’s Raniel Resuello and emerge the overall champion in the fourth leg of the 2014 Pirelli Superbikes Championship Series recently at the Clark International Speedway.
Mangulabnan wrested the front seat on the second lap under the afternoon heavy downpour and never looked back to capture the Superbikes Open crown of this event which is part of the 2014 Motorsports Championship presented by Petronas, sanctioned by the Superbikes Racing Association and sponsored by Petronas, Racing Beat @ Wave 89.1, Inside Motoring @ DZRJ810khz and Motorsiklo Xklusibo @ DZME 1530.
Spectators thought it will be Resuello’s time to shine as he grabbed the lead at the first turn and dictated the tempo for a while until Watanabe took over the top spot.
Mangulabnan rose to the occasion after sensing Watanabe seemed to be experiencing slight problems with his bike and decided to take over the charges for Aprilia Racing and preserve his team’s domination in the series.
He wrapped up the eight-lap wet race in 17 minutes and 36.602 seconds or 2.421 seconds ahead of Watanabe.