Bauzon, Escala and Purino Champed in Winning Fashion

Date posted on January 15, 2020

MotoIR champions for 2019 were hailed last October 6. The battleground for the sixth and final round of the series this year was the Clark International Speedway. The MotoIR Championship which is on its eight season is organized by InsideRACING and sanctioned by USRA.

The MotoIR Championship which is part of the Petron National Motorcycle Championship continues to search for new heroes. It is a step up series from underbone and scooter racing and a number of top riders who are now champion and international racers have joined the series through the years.

Tomas “Iraq” Bauzon, John Rey Escala and Joseph Dominique Purino, who are all gunning for the overall title in the series, were racers from a mission right from the qualifying. These three got the best times in their categories and continued to be sharp in the race proper to secure the MotoIR titles in superb fashion.

Bauzon who’s second in the rankings heading in to the final round dominated the MotoIR1 class. Leading the race all throughout, the Liqui Moly-iZone rider was focused on winning the race and the title. It was a dramatic and emotional season for him in the MotoIR but in the end, all his efforts paid off and his skill as a veteran rider was very evident in each race. Bauzon also got the 2:23.317s best lap time in the 7-lap full track final round race.

Romer Corbe of Mitas Tyres, placed second in the MotoIR1’s final round. Fritsy Claveria of Team 137, the point standings leader heading in to the last race, finished third. Alvin Oribiana who participated for the first time in the MotoIR placed fourth. Liqui Moly-iZone’s Jerome Jed Umali and Duke Montano finished fourth and fifth. As Bauzon claimed the MotoIR1 overall title, Claveria ended up as the Vice Champion and Corbe was the runner-up.

John Rey Escala’s consistent wins and podiums made him the MotoIR2 champion. The Team Motorcycle City rider topped it all off with another win in the final race. Gerson “Baby Rasta” Lorenzo and Karl Patrick Flores were the runners-up in the round 6 race. Arvee Villanueva placed fourth. Lorenzo, Flores and Villanueva raced for Liqui Moly-iZone Racing. Marvin Vince Cuarte of Team Motorcycle City was not able to finish the race.

An impressive first round win was a preview of what to come for Batangas pride Joseph Dominique Purino. The Bhebelab Racing rider in his first year of racing clinched the MotoIR3 title and even won the last round race. The young Purino did well not just in the MotoIR but in other race series he participated in this year. Suzuki-VMan’s Rmand Salandanan finished second in the final race while third placer was Juver Mirasol of Top 1 Oil-Yamaha-JM Mirasol Racing. Juver’s brother and teammate John Michael Mirasol placed fourth. Not able to finish the race was Mark Santos of Suzuki-VMan. KTM RC200, Yamaha YZF-R15 and Suzuki-GSX-R150 race bikes were used by MotoIR riders in 2019. The MotoIR Championship which is part of the Petron National Motorcycle Championship continues to search for new heroes. It is a step up series from underbone and scooter racing and a number of top riders who are now champion and international racers have joined the series through the years.