Heralded as the "fasted Filippino on two-wheels", four-time National Superbike Champion, Maico Buncio is killed during a Superbike qualifying race at the Clark International Speedway in Pampanga, Philippines.
While passing a semi-straight right hand sweeper on the speedway, Maico Buncio's Suzuki GSX-R 600 hit a patch of sand causing him to crash into the run-off section. Buncio was thrown from his bike and impaled on a piece of protruding rebar that was on an unfinished barrier on the Clark Speedway Circuit.
The rebar punctured his body and damaged his kidney and liver, but instead of cutting the steel bar to free Maico, the AeroMed emergency staffers decided to pull him free causing massive internal damage. According to his death certificate, "...the rider suffered multiple organ failure and severe blood loss due to trauma of the abdomen secondary to the motorcycle accident." The gross negligence of the medics and the unfinished safety barriers left a lot of questions regarding the well-being of riders at Clark International.
Philippine Party-list Rep. Mark Aeron Sambar of the Puwersa ng Bayaning Atleta filed a resolution directing the House Committee on Youth and Sports to look into the tragic accident.
Rep. Sambar said the resolution would try to determine whether safety standards in Philippine motorsports circuits and race tracks were enough, and whether race organizers at the Clark Speedway used international safety yardsticks.
“Maico Buncio contributed greatly to the development of local racing, providing inspiration to a lot of young potential riders to get into motorports, and bringing back excitement to and interest in Superbike racing,” said Sambar. “He is a big loss to motorcycle racing and to Philippine motorsports in general.”
A funeral motorcade of more than a thousand motorcycles rode from Mandaluyong to Loyola Memorial Park in Marikina.
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