Bittersweet Malaysia trip for Repsol team

Until the accident that claimed the life of Marco Simoncelli got in the way, Team Repsol Honda had a very good showing of a 1-2-3 position at the starting grid in the Malaysian Moto GP at the Sepang Circuit recently.

While Repsol rider Casey Stoner had already been crowned this year’s MotoGP champion, a 1-2-3 finish at the Sepang International Circuit would have made racing history for Repsol Honda as the only team to do so. Stoner’s teammate Dani Pedrosa took pole position followed by Stoner and other fellow rider Andrea Dovizioso on Saturday’s qualifying race. But on Sunday, after one and a half laps around Sepang, the Repsol Honda team was denied of a place in history with fourth placer Simoncelli figuring in a fatal crash.

It was also an unforgettable day for the Philippine Repsol delegates who watched the horrifying accident at Repsol’s corporate suite facing the race track. Gold Rush Global Distribution Corp., the country’s exclusive distributor for Repsol lubricants invited some key Repsol dealers nationwide to spend the race weekend in Malaysia not only to watch the race but also to enjoy a little tour around Kuala Lumpur. The group also had a chance to have a photo op session with Repsol rider Dani Pedrosa.

In an interview, Carlos Pascual, Repsol’s international business manager for lubricants, noted that the Spanish oil company was very pleased with the first three years of Gold Rush’s appointment as distributor for the brand. “They are above the benchmark so to speak. This cannot be in terms of sales volume only but all factors considered,” said Pascual.

Gold Rush has been actively promoting local motorcycle races with its Repsol National Road Race Championship, which is sanctioned by the FIA and Namsa as well as the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC). In its first year, the five races were all held in Metro Manila but Gold Rush managing director Normann Chiu, who led the Philippine Repsol delegates to Sepang, said that by next year, they are targeting more races in the Visayas-Mindanao regions where their dealers are quite active there.

As a sign of their dealer confidence, it is quite rare for a company to represent a brand in just two to three years initiate an incentive tour for its key dealers. “We did this for the first time and we at Gold Rush are happy to have made some very good partnerships with our regional dealers. Aside from actively marketing and selling our products nationwide, we want to promote local motorcycle races at the grass-roots level. We have kids as young as nine years old doing pocket bike racing and some of our riders in these races have been picked to race internationally,” said Chiu.

“Unlike before, we are the first company to represent Repsol on a dedicated level and not just gray market importation so we can properly take care of the brand because we are in the business for the long run. In addition, contrary to public perception, Repsol also has very good and high-performance lubricants for automobiles. We intend to actively market to this segment as well,” added Chiu. Gold Rush is a family-owned enterprise and has been in the auto parts and additive business for over four decades. In the last three years since getting the distribution rights for Repsol, Gold Rush had also been very active in auto shows.