-but Summerbell leads Caribbean c/ships
By Rawle Toney in Barbados
It was a day filled with some electrifying and exhilarating races at the Bushy Park circuit in Barbados and approximately 20,000 spectators were on hand to witness what turned out to be a day of mixed fortunes for Team Guyana at round two of this year’s Caribbean Motor Racing Championships yesterday.
Blessed by perfect weather for racing and a crowd which cheered and blew horns for the drivers to acknowledge their thrilling moves, Stephen ‘Valentino Rossi’ Vieira and Gavin Gayadin proved to be the more successful out of the six Guyanese represented.
The local Super Bike champion after finishing third in his first race, rebounded to win two of the day’s most exciting races where he showed why his alias was that of the world-renowned Italian rider; Valentino Rossi.
He (Vieira) was given a stiff challenge from one of Barbados’ most experienced riders in Arthur Cumberbatch who really pushed him to the limit.
So invigorating were his rides especially the second race where he won his first race on the day, that the huge crowd rose to its feet to give the Guyanese a thunderous applause.
Vieira also set a new lap record for the bushy Park circuit by clocking 55.581 seconds on his 2008 Suzuki GSX 600.
Another Guyanese, Maurice Menezes was also impressive despite not finishing in the top bracket of his three rides.
Gayadin, competing in the Group ‘3B’ category with his BMW 318I was on his debut run in Barbados and certainly turned some heads after his first race where he finished third.
This, according to Gayadin, was due a gear box failure which was soon rectified by his hard-working crew and then he sped to his first win in Barbados.
His third race saw him making a few mistakes and he even spun out but he was skillful enough to come back to the track for a third place finish.
He capped his performance for the day by picking up two crucial points for Guyana in the Caribbean Championships.
“I never knew representing Guyana would have feel like this and as for the crowd support, it was awesome, everyone came to me and said they were impressed so I’m glad I came, I don’t even get this kind of support back in Guyana so it was good for me I feel great for my first time. So I just want to thank my crew because those guys worked really hard,” said Gayadin who also added that he was pleased with his first-time performance.
Meanwhile, the Group 4 category where the drivers compete for a chance to be crowned Caribbean champion, was one marked by grudges and old grievances.
This was evident from the first race which saw two drivers; defending champion Stuart Maloney of Barbados and Jamaican David Summerbell, being sent back to the pit for damages on their cars which occurred during their lap behind the pace car.
With the crowd on its feet none of the Caribbean’s top drivers failed to deliver in the first race which saw Mark Maloney of Barbados claiming the chequered flag and the Guyanese pair of Kevin Jeffrey and Andrew King finishing second and third respectively.
The same thing followed in the other races and in one instance, King’s car was literally torn into pieces due to the strain placed upon it by the other cars.
With the defending champion Maloney already out of the championships, Summerbell, after coming to the island in the lead on the points table, was able to build on it well with Mark Maloney gaining as well.
Team Guyana chalked up its first points of the championships after failing to make the first round which was held in Jamaica earlier this year.
However up to press time, the confirmed points standing was not available to the local media and will follow in a subsequent edition.