Brothers Oliver and Dave Young stamped their authority over their local counterparts, while Bobby Rasul scored his first win when the Japarts/Banks DIH-sponsored Red Earth Riders Grass track/Motocross race meet was held recently at the Karrow race track, Bartica.
The Younge siblings outpaced their local counterparts namely Raphael De Goeas and Pucka Persaud with Oliver Younge taking the lead in the points standing for the Ravi Boodhoo memorial Trophy.
“We will be fully prepared for them the next time around. This won’t happen again now that we have ridden on the track and know how to outfit our four-wheelers,” stated De Groeas after the day’s proceedings.
The day, however, belonged to Rasul who made his hometown Bartica proud as he manoeuvred his Honda 125cc bike comfortably over the track upsetting the Georgetown team in the process. He led from start to finish in all three races, withstanding the pressure exerted from the Georgetown riders which included the South Dakota champion Chris Mc Lean, veterans Vassy Barry and Abi Rahaman and Novices Champion rider Alvin Balgobin.
Mc Lean had the opportunity of preventing Rasul from winning one of his three races after taking the lead from the first turn, but lost out when Rasul made a crafty move on the inside to get past him.
Mc Lean and Rahaman had to settle for second place finishes as Rasul displayed his class to the over one thousand Barticians who turned out to witness the day’s proceedings.
Reigning 125cc champion Steven Vieira was missing from the event for reasons unknown to the organizers.
The quiet Rasul was elated with his achievements and said that it felt great to dominate a meet like that.
“I felt comfortable on the track. Riding against Abi Rahaman and Chris Mc Lean was a privilege for me and to dominate them made it even better as I watched them race when I was younger. For this meet, I watched Steven Vieira’s riding technique from his last outing here and tried to improve my style. We all kept falling a lot in practice, so I tried desperately not to fall on race day and hold my lead at the same time and it worked,” Rasul added.
“Bobby is not to be taken lightly now. He practised a lot and chasing him was difficult on such a small track in only a seven-lap race. He also got some good starts and rode his races to perfection,” Mc Lean stated when asked to comment on Rasul’s performances.
Veteran champion rider Barry, who is also the defending 125cc champion at Karrow, rode one race on a 100cc bike that was loaned and outfoxed Andrew Wong to win one race for the Georgetown boys.
The day was not without mishaps which occurred to Raul Jardine, Alvin Balgobin and Mc Lean, albeit not seriously to create cause for concern.
Racing will return to the South Dakota circuit February 10 when the action is expected to be fever pitch high.
