Aguilar wins Rider of the Year plum

Thirty-nine-year-old Glenn Aguilar proved that he has enough gas left in the tank as he snatched another victory to dominate the 11-leg “Kopiko Astig 3-in-1 Supercross” series, which came to an exciting end last Sunday at the South Road Properties.

For topping seven of the 11 legs of the series, including the last leg over the weekend, Aguilar took home the coveted Rider of the Year title. Aside from that, he also recorded his 15th championship title since he started racing in 1996.

Aguilar finished with a total of 492 points, dominating the pro open category en route to winning the prestigious crown over younger rivals Jon Eleazar Adlawan of Cebu and Pangasinan’s Rhowell Matias “Bornok” Mangosong IV.

“For me this win is very sweet and important because it’s very rare for a rider my age to win titles,” Aguilar said. “I’ve sacrificed a lot in this long and grueling campaign. I never thought at the end of all of this, I’d manage to win it.”

Aguilar will turn 40 on June 2014. He said he will be joining the veterans class 40-above division in the world championships in California, USA.

Aguilar actually almost called it quits but came out of retirement last 2008. He decided to continue racing because he wanted to know if it was really over for him.

“During the middle of this series, I got sick and it led me to the point of quitting because at my age, recovery from a grueling race is very slow unlike those years when I was still young. What I did was I just persevered and trained hard because I was really challenged by the younger riders who are now emerging like Adlawan and Mangosong.”

He said that when he retires, he wants Adlawan and Mangosong and the other top young riders here in the country to carry the flag and continue his legacy.

For Adlawan, the best lesson he learned in this series is to train arduously and follow the footsteps of Aguilar. “I’m really satisfied with what I’ve achieved in this race. I’m willing to train harder for next year,” Adlawan, who placed second in the overall rankings, said.

Mangosong IV wound up third overall. He also ruled the pro lite category in the last leg of the race.

Ambo Yapparcon lorded the intermediate class, the younger Aguilar Mclean snatched the beginners, mini and novice open production titles while Bilog Cabaya scored a double victory via the peewee 65 and 50cc categories.

The rest of the winners were Pia Gabriel (women’s, Neil Ytac (underbone), Jed Luna (local enduro). Jeffward Tenorio (open enduro), Dexter Bacbac (veterans A), Ayen Ledesman (veterans B), Roscel Gungob (veterans C) and Team Gwapo (team race).

The race was organized by Man and Machine Racing Promotions of Jonas Adlawan and supported by the National Motorcycle Sports and Safety Association.