YIGO, GUAM, USA — NAMSSA-Caltex Revtex rider Glenn Aguilar and the rest of the NAMSSA Motocross Team Philippines took a giant step in their quest to reclaim Asian motocross supremacy by bagging top honors in the kickoff leg of the 2005 FIM Asian Motocross Championship Series last weekend at the Calvo Memorial Raceway Park here.
Pumped up by a racing incident that cost him the lead in the opening heat, Aguilar unleashed a spirited drive in the final moto to finish second overall in the premiere 125 cc division for the NAMSSA Motocross Team Philippines’ Guam campaign supported by the Philippine Sports Commission, the Philippine Olympic Committee, Philippine Airlines and www.motorcyclephilippines.com.
Caltex Revtex-Oakley’s Kenneth San Andres, a St. Louis College-Valenzuela senior high school student and 8-time national peewee and junior champion was unfazed by older and experienced riders to grab fifth overall in the premiere 125cc division bannered by a competitive field of top riders from Japan, China, Guam, Saipan, Indonesia, Australia, New Zealand and the Philippines.
RP’s Tykes on Bikes – Philippine Airlines-Dickies rider Rafael "Raprap" Enriquez and Caltex-RevtexOakley bet Jean Erick Mitra – held their grounds in the grudge match against 2004 Macau Peewee champion Troy Corpuz as the top peewee riders in the Asia-Pacific region.
Enriquez, an eight-year-old honor student from Lourdes School in Quezon City and the 2004 Asian Peewee Champion emerged the winner of the GuamPhilippines Peewee Moto Challenge.
Mitra, a nine-year-old student of the Metropolitan Academy of Manila, ruled the Asian International Peewee 50cc Modified category by finishing first in Motos 1 and 2 and finishing 2nd in Moto 3 with Enriquez coming in second overall.
Australia’s Christian Horwood, who seemed fully recovered from a leg injury last April, grabbed the limelight by winning the opening leg’s top plum, earning 47 points total following a second place finish in the first moto and an imposing performance in the finals.
Aguilar and New Zealand’s James Robinson ended up with 40 points apiece but the Filipino clinched second spot by having the better output in the final moto. Ohtsuka failed to finish the finals and ended up 7th overall with 25 points.
Round 2 of the series will be staged in Puerto Princesa City, Palawan on March 20. The NAMSSA Philippine Motocross Team riders who competed in Guam will hardly have the time to unpack their bags and will see action anew in the back-to-back races slated in Baguio City and La Union this weekend.
