Ducati Panigale V4-riding TJ Alberto emerges victorious at PSBK Round 4

MANILA: Timothy Joseph Alberto emerged victorious at the recently held Round 4 of the Philippine Superbike Championship (PSBK) at the Clark International Speedway.

Riding under the banner of Access Plus Racing, Alberto sat atop the #77 Ducati Panigale V4 and finished first despite a rain-hit race.

“Another amazing performance from TJ and the whole Access Plus Racing team. Although we knew that we had an advantage in Clark, given the amount of time we spent here in testing, we didn't know what to expect when it rained. This was our first wet race on the Ducati Panigale V4 and we were all praying for TJ. In the end, he impressed us by delivering another win and thanking the Lord for keeping him safe,” Access Plus Racing Team Principal Toti Alberto said.

The race saw Alberto take the lead after a quick getaway. His closest championship rival — Marvin Mangulabnan on the Aprilia — put pressure on the Ducati rider in search of a way past. However, he only kept up for a few laps before the reigning champion gradually continued his lead until the chequered flag dropped.

After the dust settled, Alberto was 5.366 seconds ahead of Mangulabnan, who trailed in second place. The former set a 1:48.443 lap record during the race, which was impressive but still a few hundredths shy of his official best set last month. It was — Access Plus Racing noted — over half a second faster than anyone else on track and secured him pole position for the race.

Rain-struck race

Despite having won the race, Access Plus Racing recalled that the “sudden afternoon downpour put some uncertainty on their performance” and left Alberto “with no other choice than to relearn the track on the warm-up lap to the grid.”

To the team’s delight, the #77 Ducati Panigale V4 executed a clean launch off the line and hold position.

It was short-lived though as Mangulabnan overtook Alberto just a few corners after. The Ducati rider then closely followed behind the spray of the Aprilia and gradually found grip as the laps went on.

Alberto got close enough on eighth lap where he made a brave lunge to the inside of turn 1 and came out in front. From then on, he got his head down and never looked back to take a hard-fought victory in the wet.

“What a weekend! That makes it four wins so far this year at Clark with one in the wet to add to my resume. This was my first time to ride this bike in the rain and I'm glad that I was able to show that I can win in both dry and wet conditions. By extending my points lead, I'm super motivated to keep this momentum into BRC (Batangas Racing Circuit) next month,” Alberto remarked.

TJ Alberto extends his lead in the Overall and Pro Class standings to 24 points with two rounds to go. PSBK will return to BRC on September 7-8 for the penultimate round of the 2024 season.

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