Fernando new underbone king

CLARK , Philippines  – Fil-Japanese Masato Fernando, an underdog at the start of the series, became the new Underbone King after bagging the overall crown of the 2009 Magnolia Health Tea Philippine Underbone King Championships recently at the Clark International Speedway here.

All it took was a consistent third place finish in both the pre-final and final race despite the slippery wet track to capture the premier 150cc Open title in this event sponsored by San Miguel Corporation, Magnolia Health Tea, Aeromed, Inside Racing and Pagcor.

He wrapped up the plum with 261 points as he turned back close rivals Maico Buncio of Elf Moto Oil-YRS Racing and Johnlery Enriquez of Suzuki who shared overall second place with 248 points.

Buncio, who was then just five points behind Fernando, struggled under heavy rain as he spun out midway the pre-final race.

But when the weather cleared up later in the afternoon, Buncio went on to capture both the 130cc Open crown and his back-to-back Superbikes diadem in the 2009 BRC Superbikes Series.