Zane Maloney joins circuit racing return at Bushy Park
Fresh from claiming the best result so far in his EuroFormula Open campaign in Europe –second at Circuit Paul Ricard in France last weekend - reigning British F4 Champion Zane Maloney will compete at Bushy Park on Sunday (August 30) as circuit racing restarts in the island. Bushy Park Motor Sports Inc’s (BPMSI) VP Fuel Sales & Rock Hard Cement Race Meet will run on the 1.28-kilometre National Circuit with Covid-19 safety protocols in place, competitors based in the Pits area to the south and fans in the north.
The programme gets under way at 11.00am with Practice, followed by Qualifying, with the first of 12 races scheduled for 12.30pm. Admission for spectators is pegged at Bds $10 for access only to the Clubhouse, an ideal vantage point with the northern start-line in use and the entire lap in clear view. The shorter layout – the lap record is less than 40 seconds – promotes close racing and promises an action-packed day for fans.
There will be three 8-lap races for each of BPMSI’s saloon car Groups and BimmaCup cars, while the Suzuki-powered Radical SR3s will race over 10 laps; as the contingent of regular competitors from Trinidad & Tobago cannot make the event after further restrictions were introduced in their home country, the SR3 races will not count for points towards the third season of the Radical Caribbean Cup (RCC).
Currently lying third in the EuroFormula Open standings, and with the next round not until mid-September, 16-year-old Maloney is back home for a break. On Sunday, he will race the Radical SR3 in which he has already won eight of nine races since last year and also drive his uncle Stuart’s Skoda Fabia R5 in the BPMSI Groups 3 & 4 races. Stuart will drive the Citroen C2 S2000 in which he finished highest-placed 2wd in Sol Rally Barbados 2019 and, with Steve King (Nissan Skyline) and Mark Maloney (Mazda RX-3) also in the mix, the outcome is unpredictable.
Double BPMSI Champion Driver Andre Walcott (Suzuki Swift) will feature in the races for Group 1 & Gp2/C1, where the opposition will include former Champions and race-winners such as Ross Callendar (Daihatsu Charmant), Jermin Pope (Honda Civic) and Mark Thompson (Toyota Starlet). Ahmed Esuf, who won three races on the International Circuit in March in his Honda Civic, will face Tremaine Forde-Catwell (Charmant), Tyrone Martindale (Honda CRX) and Kurt Thompson (Civic) in Gp2/C2.
The 1.28km/0.79-mile National Circuit has only been used once for a BPMSI Race Meet, the Night Races in July 2018, when Mark Maloney set the lap record in his Radical SR3, with a time of 39.059s recorded during the second round of the 2018 RCC.
Skoda Fabia R5, pictured by Corey Reece/Image Vault being driven by Zane’s uncle Stuart Maloney.