By Akeem Greene
What a day of racing!
The final leg of the 2018 Caribbean Motor Racing Championship (CMRC) proved to be an absorbing one for the thousands who descended on the South Dakota Circuit on Sunday.
From the spin-offs, the deafening sounds of engines to ridiculously thrilling racing, excitement arguably was maxed out by the embracing fans.
Goosebumps raised and they hardly was anytime for them to rest since, race after race eyes had to be glued, especially with the blazing Super stock category, the SR3 Cup Radical Series and the powerful Group Four cars.
The topsy-turvy Super stock
For the first in three years, Team Mohamed’s international riders did not occupy the top two spots on the podium. The expectation was that Matt Truelove, Harry Truelove and Richard Cooper would play ‘cat and mouse’ at the front while the others fight for fourth and the British guys smash the track record again.
But technically, the battle was for third since Cooper’s bike placed him alone in the Super Sport category. Harry and Cooper collided and veered off the track at the club house turn in the first race.
Despite both were able to complete race, they placed in the bottom of the pack. According to unofficial results, teammate Matt finished first and was followed by Heemand Boodhram and Raveiro Tucker. Yes you read that right, two locals got the better of the Brits!
Initially, Stephen Vieira was in hot pursuit of the international riders with his iconic daredevil riding style until he crashed out in lap two.
The joy the locals savoured was short-lived since at the next outing, they locked out the top spots and made no mistakes. Attention was mostly placed on the exchanges between Matthew Vieira and cousin Stephen with the duo going guns blazing after each other at every turn.
Matthew came out on top and unconfirmed results place him as the local Super bike champion for 2018.
Goosebumps of Radicals
The Caribbean SR3 Radical Cup, which is in its maiden year, lived up to all the hype. The highly anticipated clash between F4 driver Calvin Ming and Kristian Jeffrey by all means did not disappoint.
To firstly contextualise how engrossing and physically draining is the battle, one must understand, the three races have a combined 60 laps. Pundits say, this is the future of Caribbean racing.
Round One: Ming took it with ease, clipping pole starter Mark Maloney on the first turn and never relinquished the lead. The battle really was for second and third with Maloney and Jeffrey. The latter had a prolong wait until he made his move and got to second.
Round Two: With a reversed grid, Ming and Jeffrey had to battle their way from the back up to the front which they did with ease. Distancing themselves from the group, Jeffrey searched tirelessly for an opening, but none could materialise until the final lap.
The goose neck was ‘cooking’ all day and Jeffrey, in his Torginol Paints branded machine, made his move, undertaking Ming to get a rousing applause by the fans and the chequered flag was his possession.
Round Three: One apiece, Ming went to work and did so valiantly, keeping Jeffrey to second and Maloney in third. Based on the unofficial times, Ming’s fastest was 33.121s, which betters the track record of 33.201s, set by Jeffrey in 2017 with his Mitsubishi Evolution.
Andrew “The King” of South Dakota?
Andrew King’s love affair with his iconic RX-7 continued and it ran well-oiled, making it virtually unstoppable. King produced a tactical master class to win ahead of Rupie Sewjattan and Mark Vieira in the first clash.
Mark controlled the races in the early stages, powering ahead with his RX-8 and looked destined for victory until Andrew went to hunt like the “Lion King”.
King produced a silky smooth drive through the gooseneck placing him and Mark neck and neck coming out the straight away. King took him on the inside of the club house turn and it was rear light viewing for the pack.
Kevin Jeffrey and the famous “Bush Cow” had his moments in the early stages of the race, but mechanical issues downplayed the full potential. The only blemish of the day for King was being edged out by Maloney in the final race.
Among other standout performers were Shan Seejattan sweeping the Group Two races, while Ronald Wortman lifted the CMRC Group Three title.
In the Street Tuner, Mohamed Ahmed, Adrian Fernandes and Nasrudeen Mohamed were the consistent performers, while in Street Tuner, Raymond Seebarran and Roopnarine Dasrat rotated the top spots; likewise for the Starlet Cup, Anand Ramchand and Motilall Deodass controlled proceedings.
The presentation ceremony will be held on Monday evening at the Ramada Princess Hotel.
