Ortile, Enriquez shine

UPSETS marked the day as Bryan Ortile and John Lery Enriquez ruled their respective classes recently in the kickoffs of the 2013 Philippine Underbone King Championships and the 2013 FDR Philippine Scooter Racing Championships at Batangas Racing Circuit in Rosario, Batangas.

Banking on his vast experience, Ortile edged defending champion Anthony Roman in the Underbone King class while Enriquez thwarted reigning titlist Miko Montano in the Scooter Racing event.

It was a tight start in the premiere 150cc Underbone as Ortile found himself in a tight five-way dicing that included Roman, Niño Fabian, Marvin Mangulabnan and Paul Mark Doblada for the most part of the seven-lap race.

But Ortile unleashed a crucial maneuver in the final few meters to grab the lead and claim the checkered flag in 13 minutes and 43.078 seconds, a mere 0.104 of a second ahead of Fabian. Roman was third, 0.111 of a second behind Ortile.

It was also a narrow victory for Enriquez, who clinched the premiere 180cc Automatic Scooter title by 0.687 of a second over Montano and 0.867 of a second over third placer Ivan Santiago. Steve Silva, Contributor