Team Barbados heads south for CMRC action at Wallerfield
A four-man team from Bushy Park Motor Sports Inc (BPMSI) will see action at the Frankie Boodram Wallerfield International Raceway in Trinidad & Tobago this weekend (July 23/24). They will contest round two of the Seaboard Marine Caribbean Motoring Racing Championship (CMRC), which heads for Bushy Park Barbados for its third round on September 3/4.
Mark Maloney will contest Group 4 in his Digicel / Maloney Racing Team Mazda RX-3, Steve King Gp3 in the Automotive Art / Valvoline / Percy King Auto Parts Toyota Starlet and Mark Thompson Gp2 in his Stag Beer / Automotive Art / Glassesco / NKM Clothing / Bio-Beauty / Calvin Alkins Customs Services Honda Civic. On two wheels, Brook Miller will fly the Broken Trident aboard the Evolite / Kari Brook Live / Bridgestone / VP Racing / Kore Fitness / Biz Needz Suzuki GSX-R600.
Maloney was the only Barbados driver at the opening round of the CMRC at Jamwest in Jamaica in May, where he finished third in Group 4 2wd - the top group is split this year, with a year-end Champion to be declared in both 4wd and 2wd. He was elbowed out of the first race, recording a dnf, battled through from 13th to finish second in race two, then finished fourth overall and top 2wd in the day's final race.
Jamaica's Peter Rae (RX-7) had won the two earlier races, then finished third in race three, amassing a total of 65 points, with T&T's Franklyn Boodram (Renault Megane Trophy) second on 51 - he was second-third-second - while Maloney logged 43. Maloney was at Wallerfield last year, but mechanical issues on Saturday meant no racing, while Rae and hometown hero Boodram each had two points-scoring finishes.
This leading trio can expect further competition from Guyana's Mohan Rangasammy (RX-7), who lies four points adrift of Maloney after Jamwest, and his fellow countryman Danny Persaud, whose Mazda Miata finished five out of six races at Wallerfield last year, when he ran in both Groups 3 and 4.
Two-time CMRC Gp2 Champion Thompson will be hoping to repeat his first visit to Wallerfield in 2014, when he won all three Gp2 races on the way to his second title, having won previously in 2012. Last year, having set the pace in Qualifying, victory in Race 1 was his best finish, heading home the Civics of Guyana's Shairaz Roshandin and T&T's Marc Gill, who went on to win the Gp2 title. After retiring from Race 2 with engine problems, Thompson started at the back for the last race, benefitting from a Turn 1 incident to run fourth at the end of lap one; his Civic started smoking again, however, and he finished third behind Mark Williams (Civic) and Roshandin, with Gill fourth.
King will run in Gp3, where Reigning Champion, Guyana's Paul Vieira, will again race a Mazda RX-7 for T&T's Team Tigers. With a hat-trick of wins in Jamaica, his maximum 75 points gives him a 33-point advantage over Gary Barrett (Civic) of the Cayman Islands, with Guyana's Nazim Gafoor (Miata) third, another two points adrift.
Miller, who leads the BPMSI Class A Bikes Championship, reinforced his excellent current form on Easter Monday, when he brought the Bushy Park Barbados Outright Bike Lap Record back home with a lap of 1m 04.192s, beating the mark set by Guyana's Elliot Vieira at last September's CMRC International.
Elliott is one of three Vieiras racing this weekend - with two wins and a second in Jamaica, Stephen leads the Superstock standings, with Jamaica's Robert McDonald second; Elliott, who won the third race at Jamwest, is third, ahead of Matthew Vieira.
Practice and qualifying on Saturday will be followed by a full programme of racing on Sunday, slated to start at 11.00am. As well as three races each for the CMRC categories, there will be local events for the Trinidad & Tobago Automobile Sports Association Gp1 and the new Super Street category, along with a demonstration by Zachary Boodram in his Formula 4 single-seater.
