Reigning Group-4 champion Andrew King and Kevin Jeffrey sizzled yesterday but it was group-3 driver Ryan Rahaman who churned out some of the most admirable performances at the Guyana Race of Champions at the South Dakota Circuit, Timehri.
Rahaman, driving his Ford Sierra, drove unbeaten in the group-3 category but none of his drives was more memorable than his last race when Groups-3 and 4 were merged.
The high-intensity race started with King, Mark Vieira and Jeffrey jostling for the first position that Vieira momentarily took from the inside.
This resulted in King spinning out of control before Rahaman took the second position and Jeffrey third. However, Vieira, whose car experienced handling problems the entire day, ran off the track at the second turn and King later joined him at the same turn.
By this time Rahaman had taken full control of the race with Jeffrey trying every strategy in the manual to pass the tactical Rahaman.
Every race fan was shouting for and engrossed in the field resistance the Group-3 car was putting up against the Group-4 Mitsubishi Evolution.
When the final lap started however, Rahaman’s otherwise impeccable handling went south momentarily and Jeffrey, who was breathing down his neck, overtook him on the first turn on the inside. Jeffrey added the first win in the Group-4 to his two seconds that he got earlier in the day.
After the race Rahaman said that he was especially satisfied with the performance of the machine more particularly since the aim is to move it into Group-4. He said now his crew will continue with the upgrades for the vehicle because he will not be stepping into the category to “chase the flock” and since the car’s development is in its embryonic stages, its handlers will quickly get it to its optimum level.
Rahaman said that his biggest disappointment of the day was that there were only four competitors in the Group-3 category. He was also disappointed that Trinidad & Tobago’s Ravi Singh was not present at the race meet.
On the other hand, he thanked Barbadians Freddie Mapp and Ted Roy and Canadian tuner Fidel for their fantastic work on the car. Further, he said that his longtime sponsors Stag, Guysons Engineering, JR Burgers, Sankar Auto Colour and Gem Magazine have all renewed their sponsorship for the next year and for this he was grateful.
Meanwhile, when Stabroek Sport caught up with Jeffrey, he pointed out that while a win is a win despite the competition he would have loved if King and Vieira had finished the race. He believed also that he could have won his second race, the race that King won convincingly, but a mistake resulted in his cutting the boost control hose and the main boost pressure hose and this resulted in the car losing power.
Conversely, he believes that the development of the car is going in the right direction and the new engine that has come from Jamaica will increase the power of the vehicle.
King, after winning two races for the day, said that a hit in the third race damaged the two of his tires and threw the handling and suspensions off, which forced him to retire. He said that all drivers have a right to defend their positions and it was unfortunate.
When asked how he felt to renew his rivalry with Vieira he said that competition was good. He also pointed out that he recognized that Vieira’s car had handling problems and he used it to his advantage. This problem was evident from the first race that Vieira competed in where he led up to the final lap before he ran off the track.
Vieira in a comment said that as they get accustomed to the car all the problems will be worked out but he was somewhat disappointed with his first outing since his brief hiatus.
Meanwhile, the local `Valentino Rossi’ Stephen Vieira, produced another electrifying performance with his 1000CC super bike. But it was not all easy going since a few times in the race the lead was shared with the second place, who constantly kept the pressure on.
