Barbadian drivers made off with the major titles at the just-concluded Seaboard Marine Caribbean Motor Racing Championships (CMRC) at the Guyana International Race Meet at the South Dakota Circuit last weekend.
And Caribbean motor racing fans will long remember the performances of Roger Mayers, now the fastest man in the Caribbean, and Kenrick Husbands who is also the fastest among group two drivers.
Mayers, driving a well-prepared Chefette/Digicel/Delaware Dispensary/Illusion Graphics/Quality Tyre Ford Focus, gave notice of his intention by setting a new lap record on the newly resurfaced Timehri track of 33.520 seconds during qualifying last Saturday and took pole-position for the all-important event.
Mayers was third in the drivers’ standings with 20 points from two wins at the Williams Industries/Digicel International Race Meet at Bushy Park in August, behind last year’s champion Jamaica’s David Summerbell (Jr) who had 44 and looking to make it three in a row, and Barbadian Mark Maloney who was second on 31.
Crew chief Stephen Mayers told NATIONSPORT they were cautiously comfortable at the start of Sunday’s action and he was concerned about an issue with the clutch in the Focus.
“I would have been be feeling more comfortable, but we have to keep our eye on an issue surrounding the clutch. But we did what we had to do,” Mayers noted.
It was all business in the Mayers camp as the red caution tape surrounding the Focus was removed and race officials called for the assembly of CMRC cars on the grid for the first meeting.
After the two-lap warm-up ahead of the flying start, Mayers made no mistakes as he took an inside line and blasted through the clubhouse curve, leaving Summerbell in the Time Attack/Total Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution VIII, Guyana’s Mark Vierra in the Redjet Mazda RX 8, and Andrew King in a Mazda RX 7 in Indian file along the course.
What was later discovered to be a problem surrounding the connecting rods in the Lancer Evolution VIII of Summerbell allowed Vierra to pass him, and the remainder of the changes occurred behind Mayers who went on to win the first race of the group in fine fashion.
During the race Mayers posted the fastest lap time of 34.188 seconds and was followed home by Vierra and another Barbadian driver, Doug Maloney, in the Paints Plus/Sikkens Audi Quattro.
The second race for the group was reduced from nine cars to six after a shunt on the first involving Jamaica’s Andre Anderson and Vierra, and after the business of the race had been completed, it was Mayers who led Doug Maloney, Guyana’s Andrew King and the rest of the field home.
The finishing order was the same in the third and final race of the group as Mayers made a clean sweep of the races and along with it, grabbed the Caribbean motor racing crown.
Husbands, in the Williams/Hilti/Johnsen’s Toyota Starlet in the CMRC Group 2, was in fine form as he grabbed pole position during qualifying Saturday and snapped up two races on race day, placing the title beyond the reach of all drivers.
The third race of the group was won in fine fashion by another Barbadian, Mark Thompson in the Glassesco Toyota Starlet, who picked the lead after Husbands had drifted wide in the clubhouse bend in a tussle with Guyana’s Ryan Rahaman. Husbands finished second in the race ahead of Guyana’s John Joseph.
Motorcyclists Learie Curasco and rookie Terrence Ollivierre found the going tough and finished down the field in the day’s action.
