Bad luck hounds 2 Pinoy Asia Road racers

KUALA LUMPUR—Team Suzuki Pilipinas riders Maico Greg Buncio and John Lery Enriquez suffered heartbreaking setbacks again late Sunday at the Sepang International Circuit but remained confident they could come back big in the next five legs of the Asia Road Racing Championships.

Buncio crashed anew in Race 2 of the Supersport 600cc as he tried to overtake three riders in the third lap and paid dearly for it.

The 22-year-old looked dejected over his spate of bad luck. He had moved up to 12th place in the second lap, where he registered his best time of one minute, 9.3 seconds.

In the morning’s Race 1, he was hit by a wayward Malaysian biker in the 16th lap.

“In this kind of a race you have to finish to gain points, and you can’t do that if you keep on crashing,” said Suzuki Philippines president Satoshi Uchida, who added they are not worried over the outcome.

“That’s what racing is about. It’s not only the riders who are first-timers but the whole team.”

Enriquez earlier had to call it quits after his suspension broke down in the ninth lap in the Underbone 115cc that was eventually won by Md Rozaliman Zakaria of Malaysia.

Enriquez was well in contention before the mechanical breakdown, registering his fastest lap at 1:29.896. In Race 1, he finished 19th.

Japan’s Katsuaki Fujiwara completed a victory double in the Supersport 600cc when he ruled Race 2 with a time of 22:27.927.

He also won Race 1 on Sunday morning, a day after posting the circuit’s fastest time of 1:06.538 in the practice round.

Thai Decha Kraisart was second, with Malaysian Azlah Shah Kamaruzamar third.

Race 1 second placer Chalempol Polamai of Thailand crashed out in the first lap of Race 2, forcing the organizers to restart the race and shorten it from 25 laps to 20.

“This is a different level of competition,” said Team Suzuki principal Benedict Arreola. “Everybody is fast and all of them, except our riders, know the course very well.”