Mark Maloney led the way for Barbadian drivers in the first round of the Caribbean Motor Racing Championship (CMRC) at the international race meet at the Dover Raceway, Jamaica, on Monday.
The former Bushy Park two-wheel drive lap-record holder, driving the RockStar Mazda RX3, snatched three second places, while his father Doug Maloney, in the Paints Plus Audi Quatro, took three third places.
Jamaica’s David Summerbell (Jr), the defending champion, came away with maximum points to be the top performer in the CMRC group.
But it was a miserable day for the much fancied Stuart Williams, who was competing in Jamaica for the first time.
His Williams Equipment/ Hilti Power Tools/WHH Racing Lotus Elise suffered turbo charger problems from the opening race for the top class group and he could only manage a fourth place.
Earlier, Williams had grabbed the second position on the grid during qualifying.
But it was a better experience for Mark Thompson who was also making his competitive debut in the “Land of Wood and Water”.
Driving the Glassesco Toyota Starlet, he upset the more fancied drivers and gave notice of his intentions by grabbing pole position during official qualifying.
He snapped up two wins before retiring during the final Group 2 race.
Mechanical problems to the Hilti Power Tools/Johnson’s/Williams Equipment Toyota Starlet hampered the efforts of the other Barbadian driver in Group 2, Kenrick Husbands.
The attention of the drivers will now turn to the Williams International race meet at Bushy Park in August.
