Round 4 of the Philippine Superbike Championship (PSBK) was yet another perfect race weekend for Access Plus Racing. Pole in qualifying followed by a pair of race victories on Sunday would see Timothy Joseph “TJ” Alberto extend his points lead and get closer to a 4th consecutive title. But that doesn’t tell the full story as it was a tough race won in very tricky conditions and marked the team’s very first race in the wet since entering PSBK in 2021.

Alberto feels right at home around the 4.189 km track and by now has amassed quite a considerable trophy collection from victories scored on this circuit. And it showed during Qualifying where he set a 1:48.443 lap on his #77 Ducati Panigale V4, which was impressive but still a few hundredths shy off his official best set last month. It was, however, over half a second faster than anyone else on track and secured him pole position for the race.

A quick getaway would allow Alberto to stay in the lead in Race 1 as the field funneled into the first corner. His closest championship rival, Marvin Mangulabnan on the Aprilia, then put pressure on the Ducati rider in search for a way past. But he could only keep up with Alberto for a handful of laps before the reigning champion gradually opened up a gap ’til the chequered flag dropped. It turned out to be a commanding lights-to-flag victory for Access Plus Racing with Alberto finishing 5.366 secs ahead of Mangulabnan in 2nd.

While the team was untouchable in the dry, a sudden afternoon downpour put some uncertainty on their performance for Race 2. This left Alberto with no other choice than to relearn the track on the warm up lap to the grid.

To the delight of everyone at Access Plus Racing, their #77 Panigale V4 was able to get a clean launch off the line and hold position. But it was to be short-lived 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. He eventually got close enough on lap 8 where he made a brave lunge to the inside of turn 1 and came out in front. From then on, Alberto got his head down and never looked back to take a hard fought victory in the wet.

TJ Alberto extends his lead in the Overall and Pro Class standings to 24 points with 2 rounds to go. The Philippine Superbike Championship (PSBK) now returns to the Batangas Racing Circuit (BRC) on September 7-8 for the penultimate round of the 2024 season.

TJ Alberto, #77:

“What a weekend! That makes it 4 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 next month.”