Barcial cops 2nd Underbone crown

MANILA, Philippines - Jaime Barcial of Castrol emerged the overall champion of the 2010 Philippine Underbone King Championship series, turning back Maico Buncio of Yamaha-YRS-Elf Moto Oil at the Clark International Speedway recently.

Barcial, who enjoyed a 14-point lead over Buncio prior to the championship leg, finished third and second in the final round to capture the overall crown and his second Underbone King plum.

Little-known Marvin Mangulabnan again pulled off a big upset in the five-lap pre-final race, clocking seven minutes, 26.759 seconds or just 0.228 seconds over Buncio with Barcial and Suzuki’s Paul Dobalda checking in third and fourth, respectively.

Buncio tried to salvage his bid as he ruled over Barcial and Doblada in the final race but didn’t get enough points to win the crown in the event sponsored by MTRT and Pagcor Sports and supported by Enercel Forte, Aeromed, Stoplight TV and Inside Racing Magazine.

Barcial wrapped up his campaign with a total of 297 points, winning the championship by just nine points over Buncio. Suzuki’s Doblada and Johnlerry Enriquez followed with 246 and 210 points, respectively, while Mangulabnan made it to the top five with 206.

Buncio still went home with two champion trophies as he copped the 130cc Open and the 115cc Open titles.

He amassed a total of 222 points to win the 130cc Open crown over Anthony Roman and Victor Laude and tallied 286 points to claim the 115cc plum by just two points over Suzuki’s Enriquez, who wound up with 284.

First-time rider John Emerson Inguito created quite a stir when he scored a sweep in the 115cc Super Stock class. However, it’s still Mangulabnan who emerged the overall champion with 338 points up against overall runner-up Gio Adriano and third placer Niccolo Ramos, who ended with 248 and 231 points, respectively.