More motocross events eyed in Benguet
THE recent La Trinidad Strawberry Festival Motocross may have triggered the rebirth of the sport in the highland town.
Even without a decent race track, the Cordillera MX riders have already made their name in races outside the region but never had a race inside their own turf.
Although local riders were only expected to join, Jason Wayet of the Cordillera MX said they never expect the race to be that big with several riders from all over the country joining the one day affair that even motocross legends Jovie Saulog and Jolet Jao gracing the event.
“We were just expecting a small race so our riders can have something to look forward to especially during the Strawberry Festival,” Wayet said.
Wayet recalled Baguio and Benguet was a motocross hub
back in the 80’s and 90’s that top riders in the country would anticipate the Baguio Mountain Motocross in Lonlong, La Trinidad as it was a true test of man and machine.
“Iba kasi ang race pag high altitude. Iba ang tuning ng mga bikes kasi manipis ang hangin,” added Wayet.
Although the race venue was a lot lent by the Lacamane family in Pugius, the race track which cover at least 800 meters will be used for two years by the group.
And with the race track now available within their backyards, Wayet said they hope to see the sport grow bigger in Baguio and Benguet and the hopes of luring more races in the near future.
“We are hoping that we could also stage another event during the Adivay Festival of the province because based on what we saw, the province had a positive response on the event,” added Wayet.
Riding high on the success of the first motocross race in the highland since 2002, the group hopes to have a bigger race in next year’s Strawberry Festival with more sponsors and support.
“Our sponsors saw that even with a meager budget, we were able to lure more riders so we hope we could sustain the growth of motocross in this part of the country,” Wayet closed. Roderick Osis