By Avenash Ramzan
The men in black illuminated a tranquil Friday night, walking away with a bagful of trophies when the third monthly Endurance Rental Cup was staged at the Guyana Motor Racing and Sports Club, Albert Street and Thomas Lands.
Slickly outfitted in their branded black shirts and matching caps, Team Nexus created history by becoming the first team to win both the 500lb and 600lb Classes on the same night, a bold statement of their dominance on the track.
It was a ‘nexus’ of youth and experience that created the winning formula for Team Nexus, as youngsters Steven Nobrega and Matthew Phang fused their obvious talent and confidence with the expertise of Carlos Rodrigues, Gregory Mohamed and the evergreen Brian Tenpow.
Team Nexus pulled pole position in the 500lb Class, and Tenpow, who raced the opening 20 minutes, quickly signalled his team’s intention as he opened up a sizeable lead over the chasing pack. As the opening leg wore on, Tenpow gradually opened the gap on his competitors, clocking a lap time of 43.1 seconds, which was incidentally the fastest of the night in the 500lb Class.
Mohamed and Rodrigues ensured the solid work by Tenpow was not wasted as they built on the foundation he set, amassing a total of 81 laps at the completion of one hour of driving.
Truck Masters, with the likes of Raymond Baksh, Stephan Jeffrey and Andrew Phang, took second spot, followed by Team Palm Court, comprising the Vieiras- Mark, Stephen and the lone female driver of the night, Emma.
Team Gizmos and Gadgets/iRide, which had won the previous two monthly events, started fifth on the grid and eventually finished seventh. They had started in pole position in January and February.
In the 600lb Class, Rodrigues, Nobrega and Matthew Phang teamed up under Team Nexus to chalk up 82 laps and complete a clean sweep of the titles. Interestingly, the win was Rodrigues’ third in as many outings after he partnered with Kian Jabour and Antonio DaSilva of Team Monster Energy to win the 600lb Class last month.
Team Palm Court (Mark Vieira, Stephen Vieira and Stephan Jeffrey) took second on Friday night, followed by Team E-Racing (Denzel Hopkinson, Jason Gonsalves and Shane Haly). Matthew Phang had the fastest lap time of 42.9 seconds in the 600lb Class.
The night’s activities were once again sponsored by Secure Innovations and Concepts, Auto Fashion, Monster Energy Drink and Karcher, and organised by GT Motorsports. The drivers will be in action again in April when the fourth monthly Endurance Rental Cup is staged.
