Guyanese Jeffrey pips Boodoosingh to win Caribbean Radical Series

After dropping 15 points in the title race for the Radical Caribbean Cup a month ago in Trinidad and Tobago, Guyana’s Kristian Jeffrey envisioned the finale in Guyana would be a mirror of the battle between current F1 stars Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix of 2021.

Then, Hamilton was well on his way to winning an eighth world title when a race incident caused the safety car to come out, and Verstappen passed Hamilton on the final lap to win the title.

In Guyana, the other protagonist was Trinidadian Kristian Boodoosingh, who held the momentum after a perfect three wins on his home circuit.

The day was a topsy-turvy one for the Guyanese, filled with numerous race incidents due to the drastic change in conditions (from sun to rain) and everyone adjusting to the expanded 1.6-mile track.

Boodoosingh was putting down some quick times – 1:16.413 seconds –  but only got third in the first race, but it was good enough since Jeffrey was behind in fourth.

It must be noted that during free practice on Sunday, Mark Vieira clocked 1:16.271 seconds in his Radical to unofficially be the new lap record for the expanded circuit.

Back in 2019, Barbadian Zane Maloney reset the record on the 0.78-mile track to 32.748 seconds in his SR3 Radical.

In the second race, Boodoosingh did not finish after veering off the track, and Jeffrey got third behind Suleman Esuf (second) and Mark Maloney.

It meant, based on unofficial calculations, Jeffrey narrowed the lead to approximately three points.

That meant it was all to play for in the final race.

Combined with the fact that the race leaders kept changing throughout the previous races and there were some race incidents that affected the radicals’ capacity to perform at an optimum, it was a toss-up on who would win the championship race.

 As the sun set, Jeffrey lit up the track in the final race, holding off stiff competition from Jamaican Senna Summerbell, who found his groove, and Boodoosingh.

Jeffrey held his line, and produced a defensive masterclass, to keep the duo at bay, and see the checkered waved at the end, securing a thrilling come-from-behind run on the title.

After the race, the Torginol Paints Brand Ambassador expressed satisfaction over a job well done, noting it was hard work given the conditions but a supportive team got him over the line.

GROUP FOUR

After qualifying on pole, Jeffrey was unable to finish the first race due to mechanical issues and it was Mark Vieira who dominated the day, with two first-place finishes.

In the first race, Jeffrey dominated until he retired to the pits and after the red flag due to Vieira veering off, the restarted race saw a battle between the veterans, Vieira and Mark Maloney.

Vieira crossed the line first but Maloney was given the checkered flag as there was a bone of contention from which point the race was restarted.

Race control ruled that the lap lost by Vieira during the red flag should be reinstated and there he won the race.

CLEAN SWEEP

To little surprise, the ‘King’ of Group Two, Shan Seejatan, swept all three races in quite a dominant fashion and so did the silky smooth driving of Stefan Jeffrey in Group Three.

Due to the rain, there was only one Superstock race which was won by Matthew Vieira followed by Stephen Vieira and Hemanand Boodram.

DETAILED RESULTS: https://speedhive.mylaps.com/Events/2072501

 RACE RESULTS