Jao, Mendoza shine in superbike

ROSARIO, Batangas — Shell Advance ace rider Jolet Jao and Speedeffex’ Benjo Mendoza split honors Sunday after ruling separate races in the Shell Advance Super Bikes Series of the 2003 Casino Filipino Grand Prix at the Batangas Racing Circuit in Rosario, Batangas.

Jao was actually looking forward to a second straight sweep but made a crucial mistake of using a wet set-up in Race 3 of this event sponsored by Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corp., Toyota Motors Phils., Kilton Motors, MOF Co., Norkis Yamaha, Pagcor Sports and also supported by Ford and Addict Mobile.

The rain didn’t come in time for Jao’s race and the wet tire set-up slowed him down on the dry pavement. Mendoza immediately grabbed the pole from thereon and finished the race in 30:00.929.

Five other riders passed him in this race sanctioned by the National Motorcycle Safety and Sports Association (NAMSSA) and the six-time road racing champion only finished seventh overall.

Last year’s runner-up Toti Alberto of Access Plus-Ducati took the runner-up honors clocking 30:01.174 or 0.245 seconds behind Mendoza while Bernard Mendoza also of Speedeffex ended third with a time of 30:23.838.