{"id":410882,"date":"2024-07-26T14:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-07-26T14:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/?p=410882"},"modified":"-0001-11-30T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"-0001-11-29T14:00:00","slug":"No-longer-rivals-and-thriving","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/No-longer-rivals-and-thriving\/","title":{"rendered":"No longer rivals and thriving"},"content":{"rendered":"

Cuki and Shane Alvarez are thriving after no longer having to compete against each other in the Marianas Racing Association circuit since the former decided to just concentrate in the Veterans Class at the start of the 2024 season.<\/p>\n

That decision paid off once again in last Sunday\u2019s 2024 \u201cMOTO IV\u201d Points Race Series at the Cowtown Race Park in Marpi, as the father-and-son tandem once again dominated their respective classes.<\/p>\n

The younger Alvarez topped the Expert Class with another perfect 50 points after winning both heats. Corry Pangelinan was second with his 44 points, while MRA president Ellery Cruz completed the Top 3 with his 40 points.<\/p>\n

\u201cI got the hole shot and with a clear vision the mud didn\u2019t bother me much so I was able to ride smooth and hit all my lines. Had a strong first heat with a good lead. Second heat it dried the track up more and made it tacky which means great traction and grip. I got the hole shot again and was feeling really fast, but Corry Pangelinan was right behind me the whole time. He was putting the pressure on and even came side by side at one point. I had to dig down deep and keep pushing to not let his pressure get to me and cause me to make a mistake. If I did, he would have gotten the pass and most likely the win. I had a great time battling with him it was definitely exciting and I enjoyed the grind,\u201d said Shane on winning the July Expert Class.<\/p>\n

Overall, the 30-year-old Financial & Insurance Services Group staff said once again it was a great race all around.<\/p>\n

\u201cEach and every class was exciting to watch because it was really muddy and slippery in the first heat which made it anyone\u2019s game as a lot of people were sliding out and going down. It got a little drier right before my race although there was still a lot of mushy and slick areas.\u201d<\/p>\n

He then went on to thank the MRA and IT&E for sponsoring and hosting the race and keeping motocross hobbyists active and giving them the opportunity to showcase their skills and do what they love.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019d like to thank my sponsors Trench Tech, 4evercnmi, Cycles Plus Guam, and of course my parents and my friends and family that support me on and off the track. We have two more races in August to complete our series, then it\u2019s training to defend our title against Guam once again this November for TurkeyCross!\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Cuki, meanwhile, mirrored his son by also topping both races in the Veterans Class for 50 points. Champi Villacanes was second with his 44 points, while Charles Cepeda was third with 38 points.<\/p>\n

\u201cAlways a good time mixing it up with the old boys! We all may be \u2018past our prime\u2019 but we still think we’re fast! Yesterday was a muddy race in Heat 1. The rain gave us a little break in Heat 2 and the track conditions were perfect! We call those perfect conditions \u2018tacky\u2019 becuse it isn’t slippery or dusty! So, it ended up being a great day of racing,\u201d said the patriarch of Trench Tech Racing.<\/p>\n

As for making hay while the rain shines in the Veterans Class and no longer competing against Shane in the Expert Class, Cuki joked that now he\u2019s actually much more relaxed and less stressed.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don’t have to push my limits in order to \u2018challenge\u2019 him now. I go to the races and enjoy it a lot more. Can I competitively race against him? Yes, but he’s the younger lion now and I feel it’s time to step down. Or should I say, time to be ousted! We still practice together on off weekends and I still teach him some tricks,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Shane, for his part, said he wishes the head of the Alvarez familia was still racing in the Expert Class.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wish my dad was still racing in the Expert Class. It would be fun to battle with him again every race day as he always brings out my best every time. Especially when Guam comes over it\u2019s a big help to have him racing in the class too if we\u2019re both up front it\u2019ll be harder for them to pass or get the win. Thankfully, Corry is really fast and on a good day can definitely give me a run for my money,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Cuki, right, and Shane Alvarez pose after a recent race in the 2024 \u201cMOTO IV\u201d Points Race Series at the Cowtown Race Park in Marpi.<\/p>\n

-CONTRIBUTED PHOTO
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Cuki and Shane Alvarez are thriving after no longer having to compete against each other…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-410882","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/410882","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=410882"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/410882\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=410882"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=410882"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=410882"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}