Supercross series for unity

The upcoming Kopiko Astig 3 in One Supercross Series 2013 aims to take motorcycle sports back into the limelight, and bring the community together. At the moment, the series has 12 national and international races on its calendar, with other cities around the country asking to be included. It has been months in the planning and coordination, and is ready to fire off this month.

The series begins at the vast South Road Properties from Jan. 26 to 27, with prizes at stake in no less than 13 categories. From there, the races move to Bais, Negros Oriental for February. The Kopiko Supercross Series also has stops planned in Bacolod, Dumaguete, Dipolog, Tacloban, Cagayan de Oro, Davao, Roxas City and Ormoc, with at least one leg to be held in a new venue in Luzon. Teams have already been signing up since late last year. Organizers are thrilled at the prospect of having a regular competition to bring to the masses.

“We are grateful to Kopiko Astig 3 in One for this opportunity to bring together all the country’s best riders and give them a chance to excite people while earning a living,” says Jonas Adlawan, president of the organizing Man and Machine Racing Promotions. “We have seen how the crowds have continued to grow over the last few years, and we are happy to have an open competition to bring everyone together in an exciting event.”

Motocross or off-road motorcycle racing originated in the United Kingdom early in the 20th century. It was held in natural venues as they were, working around existing obstacles such as trees, ditches, rock formations and the like. It gradually spread throughout the rest of Europe. It was brought to the US by champion riders in the 1960’s, and soon changed the landscape of motorcycle riding in North America, which was mostly city- or oval-based. To make the sport more marketable in urban areas, American promoters designed smaller tracks in stadiums or purpose-built facilities and christened them supercross. This allowed greater access to larger crowds and mainstream advertising, and it quickly became a mass sport in the motor-hungry US, as well.

The National Motorcycle Sports and Safety Association or NAMSSA, the governing body for the sport, has been very supportive of the Kopiko Supercross Series. NAMSSA president Macky Carapiet has been said to be working with the organizers to bring in European and Asian riders to make the series more challenging and gain international recognition. In the past two years alone, individual races have seen crowds of anywhere between 20,000 to 100,000 regardless of the temperature or weather at the outdoor tracks. Having foreign riders will put the Philippines back on the world map in motorcycle sports.

There are several costly components to staging supercross races. First is constructing a track to international standards, which requires about two hectares of land by itself. Transporting the riders, their pit crews and support staff is a second challenge. Coordinating with local governments for the necessary permits, security, medical and sanitation requirements is not easy. Then there is crowd control and other support services that have to be attended to, aside from running the event itself. But it is a challenge Man and Machine has undertaken with much success, building up to the Kopiko Astig 3 in One Supercross Series.

Until over a decade ago, the sport of motocross was sustained by a large tobacco company, until the ban on cigarette advertising cut sports event sponsorships off, leaving motocross, cycling and even car racing scrambling for support. In the last three years, a growing local pharmaceutical company held smaller motocross series. With the entry of one of the country’s leading coffee brands Kopiko, the sport is guaranteed consistent, high-profile races for the next three years, at least. This was all that the riders have been looking for.

“We have no political affiliation, we simply want to help the sport by putting together high-quality races,” adds Adlawan, father of international racer Jonjon Adlawan. “Everybody is welcome to join, and we are inviting the top riders from around the world so we can also measure the skill of Filipino riders against the best in the sport.”

Interested teams and sponsors are requested to look out for the organizer’s website, Facebook and Twitter pages coming up next week. In the meantime, inquiries may be sent to this writer at billvelasco2006@gmail.com.