Paralejas and Ngo stars in the 2022 Philippine Motul MotoIR Youth Cup

It is IR Nation’s long time advocacy is to find and help develop new talented Filipino riders by giving them exposure to local sponsors. Then way back in 2014 , the first MotoIR Youth Cup competition was created.

The aim of the MotoIR Youth Cup is to give new riders a racing platform that is not only competitive at high level, but also affordable and accessible compared to other race series.

The MotoIR Youth Cup ran for two seasons, and even in such a short time, the list of MotoIR Youth Cup alumni of riders who competed when they were at a very young age and very early in their roadracing careers, is impressive.

The prestigious list include McKinley Kyle Paz (first Filipino FIM Asia champion and now Euro Moto2 rider), Troy Alberto (first Filipino to score a Top Ten finish in an FIM World Championship race in the WorldSSP300), TJ Alberto (Current  superbike champion who also raced in the Italian SBK, WorldSTK1000 and Asian SBK),  Eane Jay Sobretodo (Multiple IRGP Champion, SuperSeries, MotoIR and All Star Champion),  Robert Mathew Ramos (IRGP Champion, Pirelli Cup and former Honda Asia Dream Cup racer), and Gian Carlo Mauricio (Multiple IRGP Champion and current FIM ARRC UB150 racer).

For 2022, with the help of sponsors and partners, the talent search has been revived and eveloved into a better and a world-class platform almost similar to other international talent search competitions around the globe.

The first change is that the Motul MotoIR Youth Cup is now sanctioned by NAMSSA Philippines, the FIM National Federation, in partnership with the USRA. This will allow our young riders to be eligible to race internationaly when the opportunity arise during their tenure as a MotoIR Youth Cup competitor.

Second, and more importantly, the competitors will be able to compete for free! This was made possible by the full support of IR Nation and Motul Lubricants as well as our partners which include Racingboy Philippines, Pirelli Tires, KYT helmets, YSS Suspension SSS sprockets, JM Morasol Advertising, BlackFlag Designs, and P.J. Bonza.

Third, the young racers will also have additional guidance on their riding and strategies from IRGP Legend and multiple IR Champion Dustin Esguerra of DE69 Performance Racing Academy.

Aside from their racing skills, the young Filipino riders will also be trained on how to behave and present themselves professionaly.

After 3 evaluation sessions, a total of  nine (9) young riders from 16 to 12 y.o. were selected to compete in the Seniors and Juniors categories based on their age and experience.

The line up of new Motul MotoIR Youth Cup riders are varied and interesting. It includes 2 girls and 7 boys. The oldest is 16 years old while the youngest are 12. One is the son of an IRGP and ARRC star while one is the brother of and IRGP and Super Series multi-champion rider. Another is a former Honda Philippine Dream Cup rider while the rest are greenhorns with minimal pocketbikes and scooter experiences.

With their bikes, equally prepared and sporting identical livery and uniforms, the 9 riders took to the track for their first official raceday on August 21 at the short track of Tarlac Circuit Hill. The sight of the Phil Motul MotoIR Youth Cup paddock and pristine miniGP  racebikes created an international race biance and  excitement that attracted a lot of fans making the riders instant celebrities.

Naturally, qualifying and the first  two races  were exciting and surprised many people.

The two Senior riders, Trahvys Paralejas and Joshua Sobretodo, as expected was in front of the seven Junior riders. The two will serve as the target for the slower Juniors riders during the season as they improve. Meanwhile, both Sobretodo and Paralejas will sure get faster as they need to beat each other in the races.

The races done on the short track were both entertaining. In the battle of the Juniors, 15 yo Paralejas took Pole Position as 16 yo Sobretodo was suffering from the extreme heat conditions that day and was not performing at his best. Paralejas dominated both races and showing a glimpse of his true potential when he was drafted in the Pilipinas Dream Cup in previous years. We will have to wait until September 18 when both riders are at their best for another epic race.

Meanwhile in the Juniors, the revelation of the first 2 races was 12 yo Mytchell Ngo. Ngo showed steady improvement on the MiniGP bike since he first tasted it way back in June at street circuits of Cainta and Caivite. The graduate from pocket bike was already fast when the Youth Cup riders rode for the fors time in Tarlac last July and with the help of his own riding coaches he was able to get the Junior Pole and was second overall on the grid. Like Peralejas, Ngo dominated his class to win both races.

Another very promising riders was the son of Masato Fernando, 14 yo Keir Masato, who registered the 4th fastest time overall and only slower than Ngo in the Juniors. Unfortunately he crashed at the end of the QTT and he was not able to start both races.

Jamila Ramirez also showed marked improvement in the first 2 races. Coming from pocketbikes, she had diffiulty geting acclimated with the clutch and shifting duirng the first Youth Cup track sessions. But with focus and practice, she was able.to finish 4th in Race 1 and end up on the 2nd place podium in Race 2.

13 yo Mark Dustin Oliveros and 15 yo John Alfed Santos completed the Juniors Top 3 in Race 1.

14 yo Franz Juric dela Cruz had a double podium with a 5th in Race 1 and a 3rd in Race 2.

The other girl rider, 12 yo Eunice Sta Ana, was also niy feeling well.that day and was just aiming to finish the races. She accomplished it with a 8th in Race 1 and 6th in Race 2.

Final Results:

The next races  will be on September 18.

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