Caribbean Junior Karting title to be decided this weekend

The inaugural Caribbean Junior Karting Academy Trophy (CJKAT), supported by the FIA’s Sport Grant Programme, reaches its conclusion at Bushy Park this weekend (March 2 and 3).

Reigning Barbados 125cc Champion Adam Mallalieu holds a slender two-point advantage over Calem Maloney, the early series leader and local 100cc Junior Champion last year, while Jamaica’s Ryan Chisholm, Zander Williams and Tommi Gore complete the top five.

Not only are the youngsters fighting for the honour of becoming the first-ever regional Karting Champion, but also for the Grand Prize of an entry in the Sunshine State Karting Challenge (SSKC) in Florida.

In addition to trophies for the top three finishers and medals for all participants, the Champion will win a fully-paid entry and use of X30 Junior kart for one SSKC weekend, valued at more than US$3,000.

With a maximum of 96 points to be scored in each of the weekend’s two rounds, any one of the Jamaican trio stands a mathematical chance of claiming the title, but the results of the first four rounds would suggest it is a straight fight between the two young Barbadians.

They have won 14 of the 16 races – eight to six in Maloney’s favour – and shared victory in the four higher points-scoring finals equally; Gore is the only other winner, with one victory apiece in the first two double-header weekends, while Rayden Persaud is the highest-placed of Guyana’s karters, now seventh in the standings.

Once again, admission to Bushy Park is free, through the Pit Entrance, with the CJKAT races supplemented by the second and final round of the BMF Winter Cup.

Caribbean Junior Karting Academy Trophy 2019

Points after round 4 (of 6):

1st Adam Mallalieu (BAR), 300 points

2nd Calem Maloney (BAR), 298pts

3rd Ryan Chisholm (JAM), 211pts

4th Zander Williams (JAM), 187pts

5th Tommi Gore (JAM), 186pts

6th Adam Marshall (BAR), 133pts

7th Rayden Persaud (GUY), 126pts

8th Kayleigh Catwell (BAR), 125pts

equal 9th Nathan Rahaman (GUY) & Jeremy TenPow (GUY), 92pts

11th Zachary Persaud (GUY), 72pts

12th Paige Mendonca (GUY), 62pts

13th Elan Rahaman (GUY), 53pts

14th Colin Bradshaw (BAR), 35pts

Masters and Cadets to settle BMF Winter Cup

This weekend will also see the BMF Winter Cup settled, a two-round series, which was added to the Academy programme last month to give the 60cc Cadets additional exposure and provide for the 125cc Masters to participate.

Pole position for the 125cc Masters event on the Saturday fell to Graeme Finlayson, just seventh-hundredths up on Ben Moore, reviving the rivalry they enjoyed last year, when they finished third and second respectively in the Barbados Karting Association (BKA) Seniors to Adam Mallalieu, who currently leads the CJKAT.

Finlayson made the most of his advantage in race one, leading all the way, with Mark Thompson second, after working his way through the field having missed qualifying and Mark Stollmeyer third.

Moore, who missed the opening race, won the second, but not before both Andrew Croney and Thompson, who finished second, had led the field; Geoff Ullyett was third, his best result of the day.

After retiring from the middle race, Finlayson led the final outing from lap two – early leader Thompson lost a wheel – clocking a second fastest lap; Moore was second and Kevon Griffith third, after a charge through the field from last on the opening lap.

On his Bushy Park debut, Guyana’s Justin TenPow claimed pole position for the 60cc Cadets on Sunday, holding off Logan Stollmeyer and Daniel Ullyett, who had finished second and third in the BKA Cadets class last year behind Colin Bradshaw, now running in the CJKAT.

TenPow and Stollmeyer proved the class of the field, swapping the lead back and forth in race one, Stollmeyer ahead when it mattered, with Ullyett third; the BKA racer also won race two, after TenPow slipped back two laps from home to finish fifth, with Ullyett second and BKA 2018 Rookie of the Year Aeden Bruce third.

The young Guyanese finally claimed a win in the day’s final outing, leading throughout, with Stollmeyer second – he also claimed a hat-trick of fastest laps – and Ullyett clocking up his third podium finish.

Sponsored by Bushy Park Circuit Inc (BPCI), Chefette, Sol and Terra Caribbean, CJKAT is modelled on the CIK-FIA Karting Academy Trophy, which has been the first rung on the ladder of the Federation Internationale de l’Automobile’s (FIA) single-seater path to F1 since 2010; it is supported by the FIA’s Sport Grant Programme.