(Reporting and Photography by Akeem Greene in Barbados)
Brothers Matt and Harry Truelove, riding under Mohamed’s Enterprise banner, unquestionably obliterated the field at the third leg of the Caribbean Motor Racing Championships (CMRC) at Bushy Park, Barbados, on Sunday (September 2).
Both of British decent, they rode their Yamaha Greaves silky smooth from start to finish to give Guyana full command of the two-wheel action, as former CMRC champion Matthew Vieira was relegated to third in all three of his races in the Superstock (600cc) group.
Watched by their parents, the Truelove duo opened some serious distance on their competitors, even before the first lap was completed. Based on the one-second gap between Matt and Harry, it seemed as if the younger brother, Harry, would be a big bother’s headache, but that was far from the case.
Apart from the bikes being superior quality, the riders’ grit and professionalism even had the marshals and the sizeable gathering of spectators in awe.
Matt produced the best performance, which was also a record-breaking feat, with a time of 1:01.542. Former teammate Bryce Prince had set the record last year with a time of 1:01.910.
Speaking to News Room Sport, Matt stated he was unsure if he could have broken the record based on practice results, but “(I had) a night’s rest and I refocused and went out with the mind set to do break it.”
Harry on the other hand, had a best of 1:02.108, while Vieira, whose racing improved every time he took the track, had a best of 1:04.856. Raveiro Tucker, on his maiden tour to Bushy Park, occupied sixth for the day, but shaved four seconds off his qualifying time to have a best of 1:08.195.
The 21 year-old Harry hopes to travel to Guyana for the final leg where he “gets a chance to beat his brother.”
Thrills with the veterans
In Group Four, Mark Vieira and the local’s marquee driver, Mark Maloney, did not disappoint, as they produced arguably the most fascinating race of the day. In round one, Vieira, who had the pole position heading into the day, was well on the way for a first place finish, but Maloney had other ideas.
Maloney, driving his high performance RX-3, moved his way from the penultimate positon on the starting grid to sneak past Vieira on a turn in the seventh lap and never gave anymore openings. Andrew King, who held second position for the early parts of the race, held on for third.
King then turned the table on the entire pack. Mark got a puncture and had to leave the race early and it was down to King. The veteran and his iconic RX-7 pressed Maloney until he got the lead to the finish line.
There was one more showdown, but it did not materialise to the hype under lights.
Only Vieira, King and Justin Maloney with his Herby took to the starting line. King did not keep up to the test, eventually falling out which meant it was a cool first place for Vieira. He had a chance to lap Justin, but the young lad staved off the embarrassment.
Rameez Mohamed, with third place on pole, finished fourth in his first Group Two race. Trinidadians Marc Gill and Justin Sanguinette took the top two spots and Bajan Mark Thompson won third. For the rest of the day, it was basically a rotation between the two for first place.
In his second outing, Mohamed was steady in the pack, until mechanical troubles forced him to end five laps into race. His brakes eventually caught fire and had to be extinguished. The problem was never fully rectified since the brakes failed once again in his final race.
Attention will now turn to the final leg of the championships on November 11-12 at the South Dakota Circuit.
