THE THOMPSON brothers, Mark and Kurt, led the scoring as Barbados finished third in the just concluded Seaboard Marine Caribbean Motor Racing Championship (CMRC) at South Dakota in Guyana last Sunday.
Mark Thompson finished second to Trinidad and Tobago’s Marc Gill as his fourth, third and fourth places were enough to clinch the title, while Kurt Thompson finished third in Group 3 behind winner Paul Viera, representing Trinidad and Tobago, and Gary Barrett of the Cayman Islands.
Barbados ended with 660 points after adding 127 to their tally, compared with the home team’s impressive tally of 423 points, which rocketed them to the top of the table with 934, and the Country Championship title for the third straight year.
Trinidad and Tobago ended with 926 in second place, while Jamaica had to settle for fourth place with 369.
For Barbados, former Group 2 champion Kurt Thompson, in a Honda CRX, had three top-four finishes to hold on to third place in the individual standings. He finished ahead of Guyana’s Danny Persaud, whose Mazda Miata suffered a fire during qualifying.
A new name also emerged at the top of the qualifying sheets in Group 2 as Guyana’s Shan Seejattan, in a Honda Civic, scored two of three wins in what were recorded as huge grids, testament to the growing popularity of the CMRC in the lower groups.
The attrition rate was high among the “big guns” but Guyana’s Kristian Jeffrey (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX) notched a hat-trick of Group 4 wins to claim back-to-back champion driver titles.
Vieira (Mazda RX-7) won the inaugural Group 3 championship, defeating Barrett (Honda Civic), while Gill (Civic) doubled up for T&T’s Team Tigers, as the first non-Barbadian driver to claim the Group 2 title.
Kristian Boodoosingh of Trinidad and Tobago had two seconds and a third in the three 15-lap encounters to clinch the runner-up slot in the year-end standings. Kevin Jeffrey, King and Barbados’ Mark Maloney also made it into the top three during the day.
Maloney secured a fighting third place in race three, a hint of what might have been had he not encountered problems.
The Vieiras made it a family affair in the CMRC Superstock for cycles, as Elliot rode to three top four finishes, claiming his first CMRC title. He was followed by Stephen and Matthew, riding Kawasaki ZX6-R and Suzuki GSX-R600 cycles.
Chairman of the CMRC’s co-ordinating body, the Caribbean Motor Racing Association, Ray Rahaman, said that after two years and seven events on four tracks, the association was now well set to expand and showcase its racing product in 2016.
“Over the course of the season, nearly 90 drivers and riders have scored points across the four CMRC classes, which is enormously encouraging. We look forward to next year with great eagerness,” he said.
