K.O.R.E. – The Kabankalan Off-Road Enthusiasts

The group began way back in 2003 when an off-roader from Bacolod, Frederick Juanico, moved to Kabankalan to do business there. He constantly ventured into the river to test and practice with his FJ40. Word got around to mechanic Dax Juarez and later to Paul Azcona about somebody running in the river and, eventually, they got to meet up and get to know each other.

On August 2003 Fredrick met up with Councilor Ted del Rio and Paul to approach the Tourism Foundation and include an off-road event in the Charter Day celebration. When all of this fell into place, Fred and Paul were appointed as Race Boss and the first ever off-road race in Kabankalan was held.

The 2003 Kabankalan River Challenge had more than 30 participants in the Open category, and more than 20 in the Stock category, with people from NAsFOR and 4×4 Fun Club gathering in one neutral venue to enjoy two days of 4×4 racing. The highlight of the race was the 400-meter river portion of the track, were racers had to run upstream. The race was eventually won by Bong Moreno from Mindanao (4×4 Fun Club).

On Nov 2003, Fred, Paul, and Tootsie Zayco formed Negros del Sur Off-road Club and joined the Dumaguete Off-road Challenge. Paul won first place in stock category with Tootsie close behind. Fred also finished in the Top 10 in the Open class. These were the first wins of the group.

Negros del Sur Off-road Club was a club for off-roaders coming from towns south of Bacolod. We then hosted the 1st Kabankalan All-Stock River Challenge. This was in January 2004 during the Sinulog Festival. The All-Stock race was only for vehicles with open differentials. More than 20 vehicles participated in this race.

Paul came in second over-all and in 33-inch-tire and below category, with Tootsie winning in the 35-inches and up class.

The group just kept joining races and joined the Talisay City Off-Road race on February 2004 as well.

Tootsie Zayco and Paul Azcona ran in the Stock Category, which was now a 33-inch and below tire size, 4-cylinder gas or 6-cylinder diesel, and open diff category. Zayco and Azcona gained the respect of everyone by being in the winner’s circle of every race in Negros since Dumaguete in November 2003.

In anticipation of a bigger race in Kabankalan’s Charter Day celebration of 2005, the group formally incorporated and became K.O.R.E., or Kabankalan Off-Road Enthusiasts with Paul Azcona as President, and Tootsie Zayco as Chairman of the Board.

With no race in August 2004, the 2005 race was bigger and more exciting. This saw the first use of electronic timing, with the drivers pushing a button to start time, and the vehicles breaking a laser beam to stop the time, thereby eliminating the human factor in the timing of the race, thus, eliminating any complaints of wrong time-keeping. Herbert Zayco also incorporated a large running display for the time so that all teams could monitor the actual running time to eliminate any doubts.

This same timing system was later used by Gadgets Magazine to time their Honda Jazz races in Manila.

Once again, racers from NAsFOR and the 4×4 Fun Club of Mindanao converged in K.O.R.E.’s hometown for another race in the river. Petron stepped up to sponsor the event and we had 2 days of racing.

2005 also saw K.O.R.E. become a member of the Visayas Off-Road Federation. Tootsie Zayco and Mansu Zayco joined the Petron Xtra Challenge and beat Pocholo Ramirez’s record of 1114kms, with a new record of 1401 kms on a single full tank. In 2008, the Zayco Hermanos once again set a new record of 1402kms.

Well, after that, the rest is history.

Current members of K.O.R.E. are:

• Paul Azcona
• Tootsie Zayco
• Frederick Juanico
• Jojo Bonin
• Cano Ortaliz
• Gilbert Ortaliz
• Rictee Resano
• Nonoy Marasigan
• Dako Juarez
• Warren Snook
• Mansu Zayco
• Herbert Zayco
• Pie Zayco
• Presy Alba
• Rizza Ortaliz
• Arnela Juanico
• Elvie Marasigan