YAMAHA Motor Co. announced it recently held its 9th Yamaha Asean Cup Race at a specially prepared 926-meter course laid on the grounds of a shopping mall in Santa Rosa, Laguna.

The event was the first Yamaha Asean Cup to be held in the Philippines, and featured a new class devoted to motorcycles with automatic transmissions, which Yamaha said was introduced in recognition of the growing popularity of such models in Asean markets.

Yamaha explained that its Cup race, launched in 2003, is a one-make championship where competitors are previously chosen through qualifying races that were held in their respective countries. In the ninth staging of the event, Yamaha said that 43 riders from the Philippines, India, Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand have passed their national qualifiers, and who were joined by two more riders from Japan, designated as special entries. The competitors raced on Yamaha T135 motorcycles (known as the Sniper MX in the Philippines) in the manual transmission class and on the Yamaha AL125 scooter (called Mio 125 MX locally) in the new automatic transmission class.

Yamaha said there is a growing interest for motorcycle sports in Asean, noting that in recent years a “growing number of young people have demonstrated a desire for a more active lifestyle.” In response, the company said that it is involved in a variety of activities that strengthen the brand’s sporty and stylish brand image while promoting the development of motorcycle sports and contributing to youth development in Asean, with the Cup race as one of such activities.