Four days before Guyanese speedsters depart for the first leg of the Caribbean Motor Racing Championships (CMRC) in Jamaica, speed demon; Kevin Jeffrey is in the mindset of a winner.
“We cannot leave with the intentions of second, the motive is to win and do our best”, Jeffrey told Stabroek Sport yesterday.
The South Dakota Circuit lap record holder mentioned that it will be a tall order to defeat champion race car drivers David Summerbell Jr. and Doug Gore on their home turf but he will be taking the fight to them on race day next Sunday.
“These guys Summerbell and Gore who perhaps have the best race cars in the Caribbean know their track like the back of their hands but we prepared the best that we could and I hope that everybody is going with a mindset to win despite racing against them at home”, Jeffrey declared.
While his individual aim is to win his races, the Group 4 ace driver stated that the six-man team will be going all out to accumulate as much points as possible.
“It is not going to be easy because we don’t have a large contingent going but we are remaining positive and have a mindset to do our best so we can accumulate as much points as possible, that way we can keep our hopes alive of winning the overall CMRC.
Jeffrey, fellow Group 4 driver Andrew King along with Group 2A’s Harold Hopkinson and John Joseph and Group 2B’s Afraz Alli and Syed Hassan will be tasked with trying to accumulate the most points possible in the three-leg championships in order to drive off with the CMRC overall title which has eluded the local daredevils over the past three years.
The initial nine-man team was depleted after Group 4 driver, Paul Vieira, Group 2’s Chet Singh and Rameez Mohamed were forced to withdraw because of mechanical problems. The team will also be missing Super Bikers, Steven ‘Valentino Rossi’ Vieira and Maurice Menez.
The Jamaica leg will be followed by the second leg in Barbados in September while the local leg will be staged at the South Dakota Circuit in November.
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.
Last year the CMRC introduced two new territories, Trinidad and Tobago and the Cayman Islands, both of whom have committed to further support this year.
Notably absent will also be champion race car driver, Mark Vieira, who stated that his Mazda RX8 will not be operable in time for next week’s meet. Vieira, however, noted that his machine will be up and revving in time for the second leg.
