Salandanan Impresses on the Suzuki Raider R150 FI
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One of the one-make races in this year’s Super Series Nationwide Championships uses the “Pinnacle of Hyper Underbones”, the Suzuki Raider R150 Fi. The race class is for Novice and Beginner riders.
Suzuki Philippines provides Suzuki Raider R150 Fi race bikes for the Super Series one-make class. 18 riders registered and they underwent qualifying eliminations to determine who will compete in the race proper.
On pole position was Suzuki-VMan rider Rmand Salandanan who was seamless all throughout. Salandanan was impressive not just in the qualifying but in the 18-lap race as well. Leading the entire race, Salandanan crossed the finish line with a total time of 7:28.425s. He also submitted the fastest lap time in the race. “Pinapasalamatan ko po yung team ko na Suzuki-VMan, sila Sir Manuel Chien, Sir Gerald Sobretodo at lahat po ng bumubuo sa Suzuki Philippines,” expressed Salandanan.
Rmand Salandanan leading the race
It was a 1-2 finish for Suzuki-VMan as another rider of the team, Nikko Nambatac from Davao, secured the second place. Third placer was Polo Arellano who also hails from Davao. Arellano races for FITech-Speedzilla.
Suzuki Raider R150 FI one-make race winners Rmand Salandanan (1), Nikko Nambatac (2) and Polo Arellano (3). With them are Ms. Zhele Acorda of Suzuki Philippines (2nd from right), InsideRACING’s Mr. Al Camba (rightmost) and Mr. Jong Uy of The Racing Line (leftmost)
Jason Baguasan finished fourth followed by Bernard Bobby Valdez. Sixth to cross the finish line was Project FI rider Christian Anderson. Zoren Traje finished seventh while Kevin Ramirez ended up at eighth place. Joseph Toledo of Motortrade-Suzuki and Mark Santos of Suzuki-VMan placed ninth and tenth. Edcel Corpuz and Michael Cabaysa both had a DNF (did not finish) result.
Much anticipated by Suzuki riders and enthusiasts here in the country, the Suzuki Raider R150 Fi was finally launched locally in 2017. Inherited from Suzuki technologies developed for MotoGP machines, the Raider R150 Fi is powered with a 150cc DOHC engine, 4-valve with 6-speed transmission. It is liquid cooled and sports a full LCD instrument panel reminiscent of the one on the Suzuki GSX-S1000 big bike giving it a premium feel.
