Guam – It’s been an exciting five close rounds of the ten round Monster Energy Guam Motocross Championships which is also gratefully being supported by Cycles Plus Honda and RPM Yamaha. The series takes place at the Guam International Raceway on its motocross track which has been built with a host of jumps, bumps and general nastiness to challenge the championship hopefuls. The series includes both motorcycle and atv’s with riders of all ages and genders competing in respective classes. The series having reached the halfway point after the completion of round five which was held in conjunction with this years April 16th Shell V-Power Smokin Wheels has been and is enjoying a one month break in its schedule. With the series now at its halfway point let’s this week get up to speed by quickly recapping the first five rounds of the series starting today with the Open Motorcycle class.
The Open Motorcycle class includes motorcycles of all sizes and riders of all ages but is mostly made up of 250 to 450cc full size motocross machines. These are the big guns of the sport and is made up of vet’s, former champions, and a host of young and old championship hopefuls. The series kicked off with round one held on February 20th with #11 Michael Limtiaco taking his Pacific Trucking Kawasaki Kxf450 to a first round win. Limtiaco was continuing on exactly where he had left off in 2010 after he had taken the 2010 RPM Yamaha & Cycles Plus Honda Monsoon Motocross Championship. Taking second in round one was Suzuki mounted #99 Caleb Barretto who would later in the series switch over to a Cycles Plus supported Honda Crf450. Taking third in round one of the series was #33 Jake Jones only in his sophomore year on the big bikes aboard his Triple J supported Honda Crf250. Rounding out the top five were #53 Tom Tarnate in fourth and #17 Antonio Cabe taking fifth in his first race back after breaking his leg in 2010.
Round two, February 27th, started with out the round one and series points leader Michael Limtiaco in attendance. A scheduled offroad motorcycle tour with his brothers through and around the country of Cambodia would keep the reigning Monsoon champ out of the series until round five. This left the door wide open for another championship hopeful to take over the points lead. Caleb Barretto now on the #99 Cycles Plus Crf450 Honda wasted no time taking over the points lead by dominating the second round of the series. Taking second place in the round two event was #7 Jonathan Tye Lizama aboard a Cycles Plus supported Kawasaki Kxf250. Taking a solid third was #33 Jake Jones who moved himself and his Triple J supported Honda into second place in the series standings. Taking fourth was #53 Tom Tarnate with #111 Jacob Einloth taking fifth.
Round three, March 13th, saw the return of a former mini bike champ #14 Paul Errol Angoco who was competing aboard a very nimble Yamaha Yz125 two stroker. Angoco took the round three win with #7 Lizama taking second and #33 Jones once again placing third. #53 Tom Tarnate and #111 Jacob Einloth rounded out the top five respectively. Current series points leader #99 Caleb Barretto took an eight place overall but managed to still hold on to the series lead by three points over #33 Jake Jones with 117 to 114 points. Veteran Guam motocross racer #53 Tom Tarnate after three rounds was doing an excellent job holding up the flag for all the vet riders through consistent finishes and holds on to third in the series standings after round three with 104 points.
Round four, March 20th, was dominated by Honda mounted #99 Caleb Barretto who took the round four win and thereby extended his hold on the series lead. #7 Lizama aboard the Kawasaki took yet another second place moving him up to third in the series standings with #33 Jake Jones once again taking that final step on the podium with another third place finish remaining a solid second in the series points standings behind the leader Barretto.
Round five, April 16th, was a wet and muddy round run on a newly built layout and in conjunction with this year Shell V-Power Smokin Wheels. With a buzz created by it being the 30th running of the Smokin’ Wheels and the return of two of the three Limtiaco brothers to the series and a host of once a year racers the start of the round five event was a highly charged up and anticipated affair. The big guns didn’t let the fans and team supporters down as they blitzed around the first turn like a herd of stampeding wildebeests. When the wall of flying dirt, tires and machines cleared several riders were to be seen picking each other up and restarting their machines after going down in that very wild first turn. Out front and away from the first turn carnage was #14 Paul Errol Angoco aboard a Yamaha Yz125 who seemed very well at home in the slick mud conditions easily out classing the rest of the field to take the round five win. Taking second was #7 Lizama aboard the Cycles Plus supported Kawasaki Kxf250 with #99 Caleb Barretto taking third on the Cycles Plus supported Honda Crf450.
After five of ten rounds the Open Motorcycle class stands as follows:
1st #99/ Caleb Barretto/ Cycles Plus/ Honda/ 205pts
2nd #33/ Jake Jones/ Triple J/ Honda/ 180pts
3rd #7/ Jonathan Ty Lizama/ Cycles Plus/ Kawasaki/ 172pts
4th #5/ Shawn Aguilo/ Cycles Plus/ Kawasaki/ 117pts
5th #111/ Jacob Einloth/ Honda/ 115pts
6th #94/ Bryan Barker/ Yamaha/ 110pts
7th #53/ Tom Tarnate/ Kawasaki/ 104pts
8th #14/ Errol Angoco/ Yamaha/ 95pts
9th #11/ Mike Limtiaco/ Pacific Trucking/ Kawasaki/ 84pts
10th #52/ David Yamasta/ Yamaha/ 62pts
11th #88/ Antonio Cabe/ RPM Yamaha/ Yamaha/ 45pts
12th #4/ Quirino Cabe/ Yamaha/ RPM Yamaha/ 39pts
13th #78/ Kyle Cruz/ Yamaha/ 36pts
14th #12/ Nakiri Atsuhiko/ Honda/ 31pts
15th #47/ Tyanna Cruz/ Kawasaki/ 29pts
16th #17/ Brian Gumataotao/ Yamaha/ 27pts
17th #27/ Travis Frawnfelder/ Yamaha/ 25pts
18th #15/ Matt Guzman/ Honda/ 24pts
19th #25/ Larry Limtiaco/ Fleet Services/Kawasaki 17pts
20th #51/ Frank Reese/ Yamaha/ 0pts
With five more rounds still remaining it’s still anybody’s title. Several hopefuls have displayed the speed it takes to win an individual round but now can they take it the next level by taking the championship? Consistency and speed has been the key so far for the top five machines in the series and with three Honda’s and two Kawasaki’s in the top five. If they want a championship then Yamaha who has riders with plenty of speed is in need of finding rider’s who can not just win rounds but can make it to the starting line consistently. Lots of riders have won races but only a very few have the talent and the will to win a ten round championship series. Make sure to come out to the Guam International Raceway this Sunday May 15th for Guam’s best bar banging cast of high flying motocross racers are set to resume the series action on with round six of the series or for any of the other scheduled Monster Energy Guam Motocross Championship rounds that will happening at the Guam International Raceway in Yigo Sunday June 12th Round 7 Sunday July 10th Round 8 Sunday July 24th Round 9 Sunday August 7th Round 10.
Round six of the Monster Energy Guam Motocross Championships is all set to begin at 1pm on Sunday May 15th being held once again at the Guam International Raceway in Yigo. The event is free to come out and watch with the venue gates opening up at 9am all are invited to a fun and exciting action packed day of racing. The racing is rain or shine so bring your umbrellas and pack plenty of cold Monster Energy Drink in your cooler. Visit www.AtvMotocrossGuam.com for information.
Information from a press release.
frankie@spbguam.com
