Enriquez cops three titles in Magnolia underbone

STA. ROSA, Laguna, Philippines - An indefatigable Johnlery Enriquez bagged three titles to fortify his chances for the overall crown of the 2009 Magnolia Health Tea Philippine Underbone King Championships recently at the Kart Trak of the Enchanted Kingdom in Sta. Rosa, Laguna.

Enriquez not only steered his Suzuki to a dominating sweep in the premier 150cc Open but also captured both the 115cc Open and 115cc Sports Production classes of this event sanctioned by the National Motorcycle Sports and Safety Association (NAMSSA) and sponsored by San Miguel Corp., Magnolia Health Tea, Aeromed, Inside Racing and Pagcor.

Also providing drama was the kickoff of the 180cc Automatic Scooter 4-Stroke class where KC Ng of Takashi Racing pulled a heart-stopping escape over Ivan Santiago.

After topping the pre-final heat, Enriquez pulled away from the pack and wrapped up the 12-lap race in six minutes, 34.734 seconds to claim the 150cc Open crown.

Fil-Japanese Masato Fernando checked 4.414 seconds behind for the runner-up place while Maico Buncio of Elf Moto Oil-YRS Racing and another Suzuki rider Paul Mark Doblada ended third and fourth, respectively.

With the win, Enriquez moved up third overall with 148 points behind frontrunning Buncio and Fernando who are a slim point apart with 178 and 177, respectively.

Enriquez glittered brighter in the combined 115cc Open and 115cc Sports Production race where he turned back Buncio by a huge 4.79 seconds margin.

Honda rider Bryan “Spark” Ortile took third place in the 115cc Open class while Jeff Chan of KSR-Anchor ended third in the 115 Sports Production division.

In the180cc Automatic Scooter 4-Stroke class, Ng was way ahead from the start but Santiago surges from behind to move up second on the sixth lap and even grabbed the lead with two laps to go.