Ever since the local speed aces drove away with their first and only Caribbean Motor Racing Championships (CMRC) overall title in 2010, they have not repeated that achievement.
That deficiency in the five-nation championships involving defending champions Jamaica, Barbados, Trinidad and Tobago and the Cayman Islands will hopefully be in the rearview mirror as the Guyana Motor Racing and Sports Club (GMR&SC) is gearing up to put systems in place to end the speedsters run of futility this year.
“This year we are making a determined effort to give the support to our team to ensure we win the 2013 version of the Caribbean Championships”, said president of the GMR&SC, Johnny Carpenter during a recent sit down with Stabroek Sport.
“We are looking for bragging rights, it is time that Guyana say that we have beaten them all again, we have always been competitive but for various reasons over the previous years we have not competed in all three of the events and over the years we have not supported our team well enough so we have lost points on the accumulative basis”.
This year the Guyanese daredevils will have a chance to accumulate points when Jamaica hosts the first leg in May followed by Barbados’ leg in September. The local leg will be staged at the South Dakota Circuit in November.
So what are some of the positive factors geared towards achieving 2010’s success?
Said Carpenter “We have the tried and tested racers Mark Vieira, Andrew King, Paul Vieira, Vishok Persaud, Stephen Vieira, Kevin Jeffrey and others who will fly the flag of Guyana but this year we have budgeted to give them the support to enable them to be able to compete in all the legs at the three different venues“.
Carpenter added “If we had to sponsor the entire thing, the motor racing club cannot afford it and I know it is really the dedication of the people that love the sport and the drivers themselves who go in their pockets and seek their own sponsorship, but this year the motor racing club will have a racing budget to support the team so we can finally get bragging rights again for this championships”.
Touching on the local aspect of the sport, Carpenter noted that motor racing is a very expensive sport but with sponsorship coupled with the government’s support, motor racing is on the right track.
“Motor racing like everything else is an evolving sport, the technology and equipment changes from year to year, the biggest boost that we have had is the combination of the government agreeing to help us resurface the track and sponsorship”.
He continued “The track is a lot more competitive and racing friendly, that has been a major boost, and with the advent of the Group One classes and the training that we have been doing for cycles we are promoting from an early age the next generation of Andrew Kings and Kevin Jeffreys and Steven Vieiras on the bikes so if the sport is to continue we have to generate interest and make it a spectacle to come and see it, but I think we are on the right track, we will be successful” Carpenter declared.
The CMRC was first staged in 2007 with Jamaica winning its inaugural leg. Barbados sped off with the country title in 2011. Of the six annual events, four overall titles were won by Jamaica; Guyana has some catching up to do. Last year the CMRC introduced two new territories, Trinidad and Tobago and the Cayman Islands, both of whom have committed to further support in 2013.
