It was a successful Round 3 for Team Suzuki Pilipinas at the Suzuki Asian Challenge (SAC) as they made history for the country at the Suzuka International Circuit in Japan. Following their success in the previous legs of the series, the team made a lot of firsts in this leg which proved the world that we, Filipinos can go side by side and rise in the very competitive world of international racing.
History was made when April King Mascardo’s (#43) strong performance during the qualifying landed him the pole position – a first for a Filipino in an international racing event. Pole sitter Mascardo holds the fastest course record (among the SAC riders in Suzuka) of 2:52.455 – 5.3 seconds quicker than last year’s pole. Following this is Eane Jaye Sobretodo’s (#22) top podium finish that is another first for a Filipino in the Asia Road Racing Championship (ARRC) series. Mario Borbon, Jr. (#29) finished off on the 2nd place making it a 1-2 finish, one more first for the country.
On race 1, Mascardo was leading with Indonesian riders Jefri Tosema and Muhammad Sapril on his trail. The three racers went head to head during the last lap but unfortunately crashed altogether giving way to other riders behind them Team Suzuki Pilipinas members’ Sobretodo and Borbon to lead the race landing them on the podium.
Race 2 was more challenging as Mascardo had a crash causing him not to finish the race. Sobretodo took over the lead but cut through by a big pack landing him on 9th place. Borbon followed on 10th place.
In the overall standings, Team Suzuki Pilipinas all secured a position in top 10 with Sobretodo on 4th place, Mascardo on 5th and Borbon on 7th. With the promising feat that they have been showing, the riders are more inspired to do and excel more. They will once again face the Suzuki Asian Challenge racetrack on August 5 to 7 at Sentul, Indonesia for the 4th round.
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