Yamaha Motor Philippines (YMPH) brought in Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP racers "El Diablo" Fabio Quartararo and Franco Morbidelli for a meet-and-greet with local racing fans.

On the first day of their visit on March 3, 2023, they were introduced to the Philippine motoring media at the Marriot Hotel Manila.

There, they experienced the warm welcome and signature hospitality of Filipinos, along with a taste of the culture, literally, as they were presented local dishes like chicken adobo, pork sisig, sinigang and halo-halo.

Fabio seemed to enjoy adobo and Franco leaned towards the sisig. 

Later in the day, they were also introduced at Yamaha’s annual Branch Manager Convention as special guests.

Hitting the track

On the second day, thousands flocked to the Clark International Speedway for a special track day experience with the MotoGP stars.

They were joined by Yamaha Philippines’ own international riders McKinley Kyle Paz, who will be racing at the FIM JRGP Moto2 European Championship, April King Mascardo and Gian Carlo Mauricio, who will compete in the Asia Road Racing Championship.

The blazing performance of Fabio and Franco on the track captured the attention of everyone in attendance.

Fabio and Franco, who were slated to only ride a couple of laps like everyone else, gave Filipinos a seemingly endless number of laps to their fans’ delight.

For the first time ever, a President of Yamaha Motor Philippines raced on the tracks when Hiroshi Koike himself suited up.

Sound advice

The duo also gave their own take on the racing program of Yamaha Motor Philippines – that it should continue to expose its riders to European competition because of the level of riders that they will ride against.

“You need to enjoy, work hard, believe in yourself, of course, dream about your goals that can be a reality," Fabio said to Kyle Paz. 

"I won the MotoGP Championship two years ago and that was my childhood dream, so all dreams can happen,” he added.

“I am really happy to be here in the Philippines," shared Franco. 

"It is a place that I looked at with a lot of passion," the top-rank racer added. "I know that here there are many beautiful places. And hopefully one day we can come and have a race here in the Philippines."

Yamaha Philippines marks this event as the beginning of a long and exciting racing season for Filipino racing athletes who will “race our flag” across the globe.

What did you think of this story? Rate it now using the five stars below!