By Akeem Greene
The first of what is hoped to be many Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) Mega Cup Grand Prix events was crisp with intense action from start to finish at GT Motorsports on Sunday.
The Grand Prix took a different route from those of the past with there being qualifying, pre-final and then the final session.
While there was the customary 60cc Kids Cup, and the 125cc Juniors and Seniors, the Easy Cup Rookie stole the show via sublime driving from young Jean-Claude Jeffrey.
Jeffrey, the brother of go-kart technician Stefan Jeffrey, looked more a professional than a rookie, with his precise maneuvering through the corners which kept him ahead of the pack and allowed him to be in first spot through the proceedings.
His best time of 37.473s was a good clip ahead of second place Brian Woodroffe, whose best was 37.542s, and Zachary Persaud in third with 37.654s after the 15 laps.
Debutant Ackeem ‘Flat Top’ Thomas made a move from behind the cameras to the track, but the results were unfavorable. At one point during the qualifiers he was in fourth, but encountered a nasty crash which relegated him to the cellar spot. In the final he finished seventh of the eight competitors with a best time of 38.764s.
The 60cc Kids Cup had its magical moments with Nathan Rahaman upstaging the Tenpow’s dominance. In the pre-final, Jeremy Tenpow took pole followed by Rahaman, Paige Mendonca and Justin Tenpow.
Early laps into the final, Rahaman kept the pressure on Jeremy and it paid off with him stealing the lead. It was not by any means holding firm in the position, but exceptional defending ensured the chequered flag was his with a best time of 35.243s. Jeremy and brother Justin rounded-off the top three with Paige occupying fourth.
The 125cc Juniors too had its moments of spills and thrills, as Faraud Mohamed arguably drove the best race of his life to win the final and upstage usual winners John Phang and Mikhail Persaud.
Mohamed, who was in third and fourth during the qualifiers and pre-final respectively, ensured any openings he had he was able to snatch. Next step was holding nerves to withstand the hunting Persaud and Phang, who incidentally, finished the race in the said order.
The 125cc Seniors was the perfect opportunity for the usually efficient John Phang to redeem himself for which he obliged most gracefully by copping the top spot and securing a best time of 31.935s; second and third went to Steven Nobrega and Persaud respectively.
The next KFC Mega Cup, organised by Pure Racing in partnership with GT Motorsports and the Guyana Motor Racing and Sports Club, will be staged on December 9.
This looks amazing and fairly simple to do. I have never made stuffed anything but these look simple enough to try sometime. I love how you made garlic zucchini noodles to go with the dish. That’s my favorite way to eat zucchini noodles. I use my spiralizer weekly. Definitely one of the best birthday gifts I have received.