Stuart Williams will take records any way they come.
Forget that the crowd at the Bushy Park racing circuit yesterday was far thinner than usual.
Forget that cricket at the Mecca is still king.
Remember that he is now the fastest driver in Barbados.
On a cloudy and breezy day at the St Philip racing circuit, the third day’s play of the Test match between West Indies and Australia drew thousands of fans away from the Barbados Auto Racing League’s (BARL) annual Easter race meet, but Williams couldn’t care less.
He left the 4 200 or so fans who did turn up screaming with delight as he set a new circuit record in his lightning fast Williams Equipment-sponsored Lotus Elise.
Williams crossed the line in 40.86 seconds to break Roger Mayers’ three-year-old record – 40.996 seconds – set in 2009.
On the first day of BARL’s 2012 season, a medium-sized crowd saw the hard work by the Lotus’ mechanical team pay off and provide clear proof that the circuit’s lap record will probably go under 39.5 seconds for the first time in Bushy Park’s history.
Apart from Williams’ fireworks, the day proved to be relatively quiet at Bushy Park – apart from Ryan O. Wood spectacularly overturning his Toyota Starlet in the first of the day’s 18 races.
