Mangulabnan rules Superbikes

MANILA, Philippines — Reigning champion Marvin Mangulabnan shifted up a gear after destroying the opposition in the Pre-Final race to rule the Expert class in the first leg of the Pirelli Superbikes Championships at the Batangas Racing Circuit in Rosario town recently.

Striking hard in the absence of Ducati’s dangerous duo of brothers TJ and Troy Alberto who were competing overseas, Mangulabnan pushed his BMW S1000RR to the best time of one minute, 35.707 seconds in the fourth of the 10-lap Finals to top the all-class race in 16:13.805.

He took the checquered flag more than a minute clear of Jericho Arnaiz in a Kawasaki ZX10R (17:24.272) and third placer Lawrence Macalinao in another BMW (17:28.847) in the premier big-bike race, part of the 2018 Petron National Motorcycle Championships series.

Mangulabnan earlier dominated the Pre-Finals in 18.55.428, with Arnaiz a proverbial mile behind in 19:59.532 and John Defensor third in a Ducati in 20:03.428.

Arnaiz settled for the Intermediate title with Macalinao finishing second and Jason Park third in the Superbikes series sponsored by Petron Sprint 4T, FDR tires and Pirelli.

Ducati’s Richard Sahagun bested the field in the Novice class while Jacq Buncio beat Rod Valdez and BJ Ang to the title in the first-ever race of the Rookie class.

The kickoff leg of the motorcycle circuit competition also featured the openers of club races in the six-leg Honda Pilipinas Dream Cup, the Moto IR Super Sports 150, the 2018 Pirelli Cup and the Ducati Cup 2018.