The Guyana Motor Racing and Sports Club’s Caribbean Clash-of-Champions meet Sunday at the South Dakota Circuit failed to live up to the pre- race hype.
While the event can in no way be considered a damp squib, none of the races lived up to the promoters’ tag of the `Greatest Race of All Time’.
However, Vishok Persaud, Chief Executive Officer of ENet, one of the sponsors tried his best for the meet to live up to its pre-race billing.
Sunday, the huge turnout of fans were treated to Persaud blazing to victory in the Group 4/Unlimited Race, shattering the lap record in the process.
Fans were left disappointed earlier in the day when two scheduled Group 4 races were red flagged for various incidents, including mechanical failures and spins off the track which took time for the track to be cleared of debris and sand.
However, Persaud quickly erased those memories, treating the vociferous crowd to a show in his KTM X-Bow when he clocked the fastest lap of one minute 16.691 seconds on the second lap of that race. The old record had belonged to Persaud’s counterpart Mark Vieira who had set a time of one minute 17.527 seconds driving his Mazda RX-8 at the South Dakota Grand Prix back in July.
Vieira, who had spun off the track, came back with a blazing run to seal second place in the Group 4/Unlimited race which left the fans fully entertained.
In the Group 3 class, Danny Persaud, driving a Mazda Miata, lowered his own lap record, recording a fastest lap of one minute 21.583 seconds to better his previous effort of one minute 24.655 seconds, which was also set at the South Dakota Grand Prix in July.
Group 2 saw the return of GMR&SC’s Vice-President, Shairaz Roshandin who had an excellent first lap time of one minute 26.286s to set himself up at the front of the pack, a position he never relinquished.
won the two Super Stock Bike races which were successfully completed. (Photo: GMR&SC)
Usual suspect Chet Singh and his rival Shan Seejatan were second and third place respectively. Despite finishing second, Singh dug deep to clock the fastest lap of the race, setting a blistering pace of one minute 26.078 seconds in lap three.
The Starlet Cup, which had its fair share of minor touches and spins, saw Steven Nobrega, more known for his dirt bike riding, making a clean sweep of both completed races, and was duly crowned the Starlet Cup champion. The Super Stock bikers faced red flag frustrations, with two of three races being completed on the day. In the second scheduled race of the day, there was an accident, where a competitor ended up making contact with Shem Chattersingh, immediately forcing race control to red flag the race.
Both completed races were dominated by Team Mohamed’s bikers, the UK trio of Dan Linfoot, James Westmoreland and Lee Jackson.
In the first race, the trio started back of the grid, serving a penalty for a scuffle between their team manager and Mark Vieira on Saturday.
However, the bikers showed their class with Linfoot claiming first place while Jackson was second, with Matthew Vieira copping third place.
The final Super Stock race of the day saw Team Mohamed’s bikers making a clean sweep of the podium with Vieira placing fourth. Linfoot again was first, Jackson second and Westmoreland third.
According to President of the Guyana Motor Racing & Sports Club (GMR&SC), Mahendra ‘Raj’ Boodhoo, the club’s marquee event of the year, “was a well planned and executed event.”
Planned with a shorter time schedule in an effort to revamp and elevate motor sports in Guyana, Boodhoo sees the staging of the meet as a positive step towards the GMR&SC’s goal.
“I think it was a good start in elevating the sport. The crowd response was immaculate. The sponsors were very contributive, something that we value greatly. It was a total package that worked,” he told Stabroek Sports in an invited comment.
Despite complaints from sections of the crowd and on social media about the high number of races being red flagged and delays between races, Boodhoo said that his team was undeterred as they had the safety protocols foremost in mind.
He pointed out that safety is always paramount at the GMR&SC events, and said that red flags was necessary.
“Motorsport is a dangerous sport and from the time we see competitors in harm’s way, it must be red flagged so we can preserve the safety and integrity of all involved, be it spectators or racers,” he declared.
The presentation ceremony for the Caribbean Clash of Champions was held last night at Parc Rayne, Rahaman’s Park.
