Total Sister Act
IT’S not very often that we find ladies in the Philippine Superbike league. Even less so as Superbike champions. Meet Jacq and Maria Lourdes Buncio – the torchbearers of girl power in a maledominated two-wheel racing scene. They are currently the only sisters competing in the daunting Superbike category. In fact, to date, they are literally the only women who qualified.
“I do it for fun. And I also do it competitively! Someday, I want to form an all-girl racing team,” shared older sister Maria Lourdes (a.k.a. ‘Des’) during a one-on-one interview with The Star.
Jacq and Des are the daughters of Gregorio ‘Yoyong’ Buncio, the owner of motorcycle shop ‘YRS’ in Mandaluyong. Their father himself was a motorcycle racer, mechanic, and modifier. He taught his children young, and trained them to become excellent motorcycle riders.
Des was no exception. She learned how to ride a motorbike as early as seven years old. “I really enjoyed riding motorcycles because they were faster than
bikes,” she recalls. Playfully pointing out that “At least tuwing
naka-motor ako, hindi ako pagod – like when in a bike.” (At least whenever I rode a motorcycle, I didn’t get exhausted the way one would, riding a bike.)
Des and Jacq are the younger sisters of four-time Philippine National Superbike Champion, Maico Buncio – who as we know, was a great talent who passed away too soon after a freak racing accident in Clark, Pampanga, seven years ago.
Their big brother’s passing did not faze the racing aspirations of the sister tandem. If anything, it only inspired them to commit to continue bearing the Buncio torch in the Philippine racing scene.
When I asked Des how she manages to keep her nerve in a sport that will always involve risks (especially with no seatbelts, and no outer shell like that of a car), she giggled at my apprehensions and said, “My dad prepared us well for safety! We have all the complete gears and we’re trained for handling these situations.”
Moreover, Des also explained that when her brother Maico was still alive, he committed lots of his precious time to training others on riding competitively. Thus, when the time came that his younger sisters started to compete and Maico was no longer around to guide them, these grateful individuals he trained have in turn, offered to help train them. A beautiful example of the truth in the saying “What goes around, comes around.”
Unlike her sister Jacq who has started her career in racing very young, Des only started competing in the professional racing scene fairly recently.
“In 2016, I was 28. And I immediately felt the pressure of high expectations because of my last name,” she shyly recalls. “They immediately put me in Class A. And in that first year of racing, I had no winnings.”
Her father reassured her that this was still okay. He didn’t want her to sandbag; and just encouraged her to press on. But she admits to being impatient in the beginning, especially since she knew she started relatively late. “I also used to be very aggressive,” she shared. “I crashed many times; and three times I passed out.”
Nevertheless, practice really does make perfect. Come 2017, Des began winning – and this strengthened her confidence to pursue. By the end of the season, Des emerged as the 2017 overall Superbikes Cup Champion for the Lightweight A category. Her sister Jacq, who has already been actively competing for a while now, likewise emerged as the 2017 overall Superbikes Cup Champion for the Heavyweight A category. A marvelous feat for two sisters in such a big, bad-ass, male-dominated sport!
This 2018, Total Philippines has also decided to sponsor Des Buncio as part of Team Total; together with her younger sister Jacq Buncio, who has since 2017 partnered with, and been sponsored by Total, through its top-of-the-line motorcycle engine oil HI-PERF. The girls have also started endorsing Total’s Excellium high-tech fuels.
The girls regularly participate in fun rides spearheaded by Total. Riders who wish to join may keep themselves posted via Total Philippines’ fanpage on Facebook, and Des’ public FB page labeled ‘Des Buncio 88’.
I asked Des if she had any quirky rituals right before starting a race, and she responds: “I always make it a point to go to the WC before qualifying! I also do the sign of the cross. And syempre, I don’t forget to put on my sunblock and make sure na maganda yung kilay ko!” (And of course I don’t forget to put on my sunblock and make sure that my brows are on fleek!)
She giggles. A strong woman indeed—but a woman all the same.