SO young, but so fast. And she’s a girl!
Sixteen-year-old Jacq Buncio fortified her status as the racing scene’s newest darling with scintillating wins in the 2016 Philippine Pirelli Superbike Championship Final Round, and the 2016 Shell Advance IR-CUP Series and Moto-IR Championship, all held at the Clark International Speedway recently.
Buncio, youngest sister of the late superbikes’ great Maico, made history as the youngest and first female motorcycle circuit racer to win the overall championship in the 2016 Philippine Pirelli Superbike Championship last Oct. 1 and 2.
The O.B. Montessori student captured the Pirelli Cup Lightweight Class A division using her entry level sports bike, a Yamaha R-3 against numerous 300cc and 390cc machines and male opponents at that.
On the same day, the lady racer who was born and raised in Mandaluyong City, also secured the overall 1st runner-up finish in the 2016 FDR Philippine 115 Underbone King Championships and the third overall in the 130cc Philippine Scooter Racing Championships – a triple-feat of sorts that will be very hard to duplicate.
The following Sunday at the same race track, Buncio was at it again in the finals of the 2016 Shell Advance IR-CUP Series and Moto-IR Championship.
Buncio again proved her talent and skills by becoming back-to-back champion (as the only Rose among the Thorns) in the Moto-IR 2 Rounds 8 and 9 using her Top-1 Oil CBR, while bagging 1st place on the same day in the 180cc Backbone Category using her dependable Yamaha STX, another triple-feat in a day.
During the Awards Banquet night at Hotel Stotsenberg, Clark, Pampanga, Buncio was awarded as the 2016 overall Vice Champion in Moto-IR 2 and 2nd Overall Champion in 180cc Backbone Category, a culmination of her development as a racer with two and a half years of circuit-racing experience.
With her tremendous growth, Lady Jacq’s backers YRS Motorcycle Modification Inc., owned by her dad Yoyong Buncio, Walter Aw of TOP-1 Oils Philippines, Jay Sipin of MotoScoot and Reginald Burila of KojieSan Philippines, are committing another round of sponsorships.
Des Buncio, Jacq’s older sister who also races in Pirelli Cup Lightweight A division, settled for second place in 180cc Backbone Category using her efficient Yamaha YBR 125 and claimed 3rd place in the 180cc backbone overall.
Was it just a coincidence or is winning on the track really runs on the Buncio’s blood?
Cliché as it may seem, racing is in the Buncio family’s genes.
Patriarch Gregorio “Yoyong” Buncio was a winning motocross rider in his youth. His sons, Maico and Barny, were motorcycle racing champions until Maico died of crash-related injuries in May 2011, while Barny opted to retire and start a family. Now, Yoyong’s two daughters – Maria Lourdes (Des) and Jacquelyn (Jacq)– are tracing the championship steps of their father and brothers.
The Buncios believe that racing has made their family whole again.
“With Jacq and Des out on the track, I still feel nervous like I did when Maico was racing,”confessed Mylene. “But watching and supporting my daughters’ races made our family whole again. We can feel Maico’s presence when we’re in a racing circuit and he’s watching over his sisters.”
Yoyong added: “And we feel that we are here back on the track for a purpose and that is to preach safety in racing. The need for speed is achieved on the race track and not on the streets. That is one of the philosophies that we are preaching, that’s why we are here.”
