Alvarez looking forward to ‘06 MX Championships

Local motocross legend Cuci Alvarez put on another decent show while representing the CNMI in the recent 2005 Saipan MX Championships at the Cowtown Raceway Park in Marpi over the weekend.

Although happy with his performance in the 125cc Expert in which he finished only behind Philippines top gun Jovie Saulog and James “Robo” Robinson of New Zealand, Alvarez stressed that he is already looking forward to doing better next year.

“I was happy with my performance ultimately, but I know what I have to do to do better next year,” he said during the Championships’ awards banquet at the Hafa Adai Beach Hotel Monday night. “I did not train enough. Now I know that I definitely have to train hard and I have to train hard all year round in order for me to keep that fast pace for all the 10 laps.”

Alvarez was phenomenal over the weekend, leading Robinson and Saulog on several occasions before tiring out and falling back. He finished second in one heat to Robinson and third in another.

“I was right there in the first heat, right behind Robo and was able to keep up for about six laps,” he said. “Then I got tired and he was able to pull away and I had to settle for second.

“In the second heat, I was leading the race, but because I was getting tired as the race wore on, people started to past me so I had to settle for third.”

Alvarez also added that he was happy with the level of competition featured over the two-day event.

“The competition is really fast and the level was a lot higher than any level of racing I’ve competed in during the past few years,” he said. “For me, the speed was not my problem. My problem was that I could not maintain that speed for 10 whole laps.”

Nonetheless, Alvarez vowed to return to the track next year for a better showing.

“I’m fine and very happy with my performance considering I haven’t been training,” he said. “As you know, I came off of a broken leg last year and I wasn’t able to ride a motorcycle until just about six months ago, so now that I’m able to do it, now that I got a brand new bike, I’m going to start riding a lot and preparing.”

Alvarez also had positive comments on the local competition, stating that local riders have shown a lot of improvement over the years.

“The local competition has upped 10 folds,” he said. “Compared to two years ago, our boys—Floyd Dela Cruz, Roman Tudela, Alvarick Alvarez, Ellery Cruz—these guys are awesome. Compared to before, they are there. They just need a little more experience under their belts. They got the speed and they definitely got the talent, but the most important thing is they got time on their hands. They’re very young and they got years and years to come to look forward to winning motocross championships.”

Lastly, Alvarez explained that inviting international racers to the Championships and exposing the local riders to topnotch competition is one big reason the island’s motocross standards has improved.

“Anytime you’re racing against guys that are better than you and faster than you, you only learn,” he said. “As with track and field, baseball, basketball…it doesn’t matter. Motocross is the same. When you have people that come here with a level that’s higher and the skill that’s better, you watch and you learn from them because it’s only going to help your game out.”