The Filipino contingent brought their A-game to the season opening races of the 2017 Suzuki Asian Challenge. After Mario Borbon Junior’s win in Race 1, trio April King Mascardo, Mario Borbon and Eane Jaye Sobretodo went to Race 2 fired up for a clean sweep of the podium.
The Filipino riders put on an immediate assault at the start of the race as April King charged into the lead. Unfortunately, in their zeal to carve out a margin at the front of the pack, Eane Jaye tangled up against two other riders on Lap 2. The crash slowed down the group, allowing April King easy access to the lead.
April King easily held on to his position, crossing the finish line with a comfortable six-second lead in front of the rest of the field. Tetsuya Fujita emerged as the second placed rider with 14’05.794s and Punchana Kulrojchalalai was third with 14’05.922s.
Race 1 winner Mario Borbon Junior got caught up with the main pack and was only able to finish eighth. Nevertheless, Mario leads the 2017 rankings with 33 points while April King is second overall with 32 points. Indonesia’s Nur Al Fath Sam Ahmad is ranked third after taking third place in Race 1 and fourth in Race 2.