Yamaha PH's Inguito, Mascardo get podium finishes in ARRC Round 3

Filipino race riders stood out at the recently-held third round of the FIM Asia Road Racing Championship (ARRC) held at Sugo International Racing Course in Japan.

Both John Emerson Inguito from 4S1M Yamaha Racing Team and April King Mascardo of UMA Racing MMR Yamaha Philippines achieved podium finishes with Inguito placing third in Race 1 and Mascardo placing second in Race 2 of ARRC’s Underbone 150 category.

In the first race, 4S1M Yamaha Racing Team’s Inguito led the Philippine contingent as he started 12th on the grid. UMA Racing MMR Yamaha Philippines Team’s Mascardo and Gian Carlo Mauricio followed in the 15th and 19th positions.

Inguito, also known as the "The Hitman" (photo below) displayed a remarkable performance after hovering outside the top five leaders for the majority of the race. He pulled off a last-minute charge that propelled him to victory. The latest feat is his second consecutive third-place finish in the tournament. Mascardo and Mauricio settle for 13th- and 14th-place finishes respectively.

Based on the statistics from ARRC, Inguito clocked in at 18’06:129, only 17 milliseconds away from Race 1’s second finisher, Peerapong Luiboonpeng of Team One For All who clocked in at 18’06:112. Wahyu Aji Trilaksana of Onexox TKKR Racing Team won the race after finishing 18’05:412.

At Race 2, Mascardo (photo below) finish strong after starting last on the grid at P20. He climbed all the way to the race’s top 10 riders and, at some point, managed to run the leading position. As the race drew near, Mascardo, unfortunately, dropped to fourth place.

However, during the breakaway to the checkered flag, he saw his opportunity to win and finished second on the podium. Mascardo, who ARCC described was “at arm’s length” to Race 2’s first placer, finished at 18’08:552. He was 120 milliseconds away from Md Izzat Zaidi Md Salehan of Pitsbike JRT OneWay who won the race at 18’08:432. At third was Nazirul Izzat Md Bahauddin of UMA Racing Yamaha Maju Motor Asia Team who trailed behind at 18’08:791.

Fellow Filipino racers Inguito and Mauricio (photo below) finished at 10th and 18th positions, respectively.

 Mascardo leads the Filipinos in fourth place in the championship standings after round three, followed by Inguito in sixth and Mauricio in 22nd. On October 8 and 9, they will compete at the Sepang International Circuit in Malaysia for Round 4 of the ARRC.

Photos from FIM Asia Road Racing Championship

Also read: 

Yamaha PH throws full support behind Paz in 2021 FIM CEV Moto2 Euro Championship

Yamaha PH’s Paz off to good start at 2022 FIM JRGP

Yamaha wows at 14th Inside Racing Bike Festival with ‘ART of Kando’