It was a banner year for Access Plus Racing-Okada Manila as they made their Philippine Superbike Championship (PSBK) comeback in 2021. Forced to compete locally due to the pandemic, they were practically untouchable all season. The team won nearly all the races they started and as expected, claimed both Rider of the Year and Masters Class titles at the end of the year.
TJ started the double-header weekend by qualifying on pole – over a second quicker than the entire field. He then converted this into a light-to-flag win on Saturday morning. More impressively, he shattered the Clark International Speedway (CIS) record with a 1:49.850 lap on board the #77 Ducati Panigale V4R. The afternoon race saw a repeat of TJ’s strong performance and marked his 9th race win of the season.
Meanwhile, Troy missed out on the podium on the very last lap to finish 4th in Race 1. But he turned things around in Race 2 where he joined his brother on the podium by taking his Okada Manila-liveried Honda CBR1000RR to 3rd across the finish line.
Their father, Toti Alberto sided with caution to protect his lead in the Masters Category and secured 2nd place in both races.
TJ maintained his momentum into the season finale on Sunday. He took another comfortable race win marking his 10th victory in of the year. More importantly, it was enough to secure him both the Expert Class and Rider of the Year titles with a race to spare. With the title now in the bag, TJ set his sights on beating his own record in the afternoon race. But in his haste to go even quicker, the newly-crowned champ went off track on lap 7. He eventually managed to remount and while a bit embarrassed, still made it to the finish line in 6th.
Troy secured another 3rd place finish in Race 3 and joined his brother on the podium. With TJ out of contention for a win, the younger Alberto was left to battle it out at the front in Race 4. He was able to close the gap to the leader over the course of 10 laps and finish 2nd his best result this year.
Still taking a conservative strategy, the family patriarch was able to take a Top 10 finish overall in Race 3 while collecting 2nd in class. He then improved on his results in the afternoon with 8th overall and another 2nd in the Maters Class to take the class championship.
TJ’s championship win comes exactly 22 years after Toti himself won the PSBK title back in 1999, making the occasion much more important for the Alberto clan. They are also the very first father-and-son duo to win the national superbike championship in the Philippines.
Access Plus Racing-Okada Manila is sponsored by Okada Manila, Essenza, Macbeth, Öhlins Philippines, AELLA, Lv8, and Ducati Philippines.