Fired-up Alberto pips Mangulabnan in tough Superbikes Series

TJ Alberto upended defending champion Marvin Mangulabnan anew to snatch his second successive victory in the fifth leg of the 2017 Pirelli Superbikes Series at Batangas Racing Circuit recently.

The other half of Ducati’s power duo with younger brother Troy, the 19-year-old TJ took the Open, Expert and Intermediate titles in the nine-lap race by 1.618 seconds over Mangulabnan and came within 18 points of the latter in the overall derby with 130.5 points.

Alberto made up for the spill that took out Troy in the Pre-Final race by finishing third behind Mangulabnan and two-time champion Dashi Watanabe. Grabbing the lead right in the first lap of the Final race, he hung on to shock the favorites anew.

Raniel Resuello checked in third while Watanabe and former karter Jason Park followed in fourth and fifth, respectively.

John Defensor ruled the Masters race and won the overall title in the Ducati Cup over BJ Ang and Eljun Victor.
Ang settled for the Intermediate crown over Eljun Victor and Richard Sahagun. —STEVE SILVA, MOTORSPORTS CONTRIBUTOR