Bajans seeking to preserve ranking at South Dakota
Daredevils from Barbados have invaded the shores of the 592 on a quest to preserve their ranking at the Ignite race meet this weekend at the South Dakota Circuit, Timehri.
Reigning Group 4 and Group 2 champions, Mark Maloney and Mark Thompson along with the rest of the Bajan outfit, arrived in Guyana yesterday for the final round of the 2018 Seaboard Marine Caribbean Motor Racing Championship (CMRC) which speeds off tomorrow and concludes on Sunday.
Team Barbados moved from fourth to second in the country standings with 618 points but there is no chance of catching Trinidad & Tobago which has amassed 1,299 points.
The speed demons from the Twin Island Republic are a shoo-in to lift their third consecutive title, while the Bajans have a realistic chance of staying second, ahead of Jamaica (526).
Barbados also arrived here for last year’s final in second place but Guyana leapfrogged their total to finish as runners up to T&T by just three points.
The locals currently sitting in fourth place, will again aim to build on their current total, but Barbados has a significantly higher cushion in the standings this time around, with an advantage of 422 points over the host nation, compared with 274 last year, while Jamaica will not be fielding a strong team.
Maloney will compete in Group (Gp) 4 where he is currently in fourth place; 52 points off leader, Guyana’s Mark Vieira (RX-8), while four-time title winner Thompson will race in Gp2, accompanied by brother Kurt, who won the Gp2 crown in 2013.
The GP4 battle will be one to watch this weekend with Vieira’s countryman and GP4 AWD defending champion Andrew King (RX-7) second and Quinian Lall (Mazda Miata) of Team CAMS third. These drivers will be joined by 2014 & ’15 champion Kristian Jeffrey.
Vieira was the highest points-scorer of the day at South Dakota last year; Maloney won the opening race but failed to finish the second outing when his engine’s kill switch malfunctioned before finishing second in race three.
This weekend’s 27race programme also features the final round of the Radical Caribbean SR3 Cup, alongside the GMR&SC’s National Classes.
Leading the much buzzed about Radical cup is Mark Maloney’s brother, Stuart of Barbados but he will face tough opposition from seasoned Guyanese campaigners Calvin Ming and Jeffrey who both missed the entire season campaigning on the North American and European circuits.