Marcelo bags twin victories

JOHN Marcelo stepped out of semi-retirement and immediately bagged twin championships in the season final of the 2012 Bridgestone Philippine Superbikes Championships held recently at Clark International Speedway.

Marcelo ruled the Naked Class of the Ducati Cup and Class C of the K-58 race on his first try in the bikes scene.  In recent years, he concentrated on guiding his son, four-time karting champion Stefano.

Marcelo was a former National Jet Ski champion and was a semifinalist in the 1996 World Jet Ski Finals in Arizona.  He also had short stints in karting and circuit racing.

“It feels good to race again,” said Marcelo.  “It took about two to three laps before my body got a feel of the tracks.”

Marcelo started sixth in the nine-man field of the Ducati Cup but quickly moved to fourth place on the fifth lap.  Gaining confidence, he went full throttle and posted the third best laptime of two minutes and 12.128 seconds.  He wound up third overall behind Masters champion John Defensor and Toti Alberto.

In the  Class C division, Marcelo completed the eight-lap race in 17:19.787, 11 seconds faster than reigning 400 cc Expert champion Aries Padiernos.  Steve Silva, Contributor