Competitors from across the region are making ready to head for South Dakota in Guyana for the final round of the Seaboard Marine Caribbean Motor Racing Championship (CMRC) this weekend.
Part of the action in the Superstock race at a previous CMRC Meet.
The finale of the CMRC’s first four-round season promises to be hard-fought, with all five championship titles, on both two and four wheels, going down to the wire.
Trinidad & Tobago leads the chase for the coveted Country Championship with 658 points; Barbados (533) moved into second place with a huge score of 441 when it hosted round three in September, with Guyana third, only 22 points behind (511) and Jamaica (369) and the Cayman Islands (138) completing the table.
Guyana’s Kristian Jeffrey will be hoping that home town advantage will carry him to a second Group 4 Championship, while in Group 3, Cayman Islander Gary Barrett has the upper hand, but with Paul Vieira, representing Trinidad & Tobago, right on his heels.
Reigning Group 2 Champion Mark Thompson of Barbados is chasing current leader, T&T’s Marc Gill, while Guyanese cousins Stephen and Elliot Vieira will slug it out on two wheels for the Superstock title.
Since his CMRC debut at Bushy Park Barbados last July, Jeffrey (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX) has an unrivalled record in the series, with 11 race wins in 18 appearances.
The new-for-2015 dropped scores rule, however, means his advantage over T&T’s Kristian Boodoosingh (Evo VI) is not quite what it seems.
While the table shows a difference of 82 points, subtracting Jeffrey’s three lowest scores so far brings the gap down to 49, which gives ‘Boodoostig’ – the only other driver capable of winning the title – a mathematical chance of snatching the crown.
Barrett (Honda Civic) is the only driver to have raced in all three rounds in Group 3, so the dropped score affects him, too, creating the closest individual title battle: dropping his lowest three scores cuts his total to 110 . . . with T&T’s Vieira (Mazda RX-7) just two points behind.
Indeed, with 75 points on offer at South Dakota, Guyana’s Danny Persaud (Mazda MX-5) still has a mathematical chance, given a day of problems for the others.
Since the Group 2 Championship was introduced in 2010, every winner has been a member of Team Barbados . . . but that could change this year.
Reigning Champion Mark Thompson (Civic), also the winner in 2012, is currently second to T&T’s Marc Gill (Civic), the only Gp2 driver to have raced at all three rounds. Consistency has been Gill’s strong suit – he is yet to win a race this year – but the dropped-score rule cuts his 60-point cushion to 18, so there is all for Thompson to play for.
There is no doubt that the CMRC Superstock Championship will be won by one or other of Guyanese cousins Stephen and Elliot Vieira, the former currently the leader by 14 points and the only previous Champion (in 2011 & ‘12). The dropped score rule does not come in to play here, as there was no Superstock round at Wallerfield in June, but no other rider is even close to the Vieiras, who have won all six races between them, Stephen four to Elliot’s two, aboard Suzuki and Kawasaki respectively.
Championship – Country: 1st Trinidad & Tobago 658 points; 2nd Barbados 533pts; 3rd Guyana 511pts; 4th Jamaica 369pts; 5th Cayman Islands 138pts.
CMRC Group 4: 1st Kristian Jeffrey 183 points; 2nd Kristian Boodoosingh 101pts; 3rd Gerard Carrington (T&T), Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VI 58pts; 4th George Bayley (JAM), Evo VIII 51pts; 5th Williams 48pts; 6th Franklyn Boodram (T&T), Renault Megane Trophy 45pts; etc
CMRC Group 3: 1st Gary Barrett 138 points; 2nd Paul Vieira 108pts; 3rd Danny Persaud 70pts; equal 4th Natasha Chang (JAM), Honda S2000 & Kurt Thompson (Honda CRX) 62pts; 6th Kenrick Husbands (BAR) Toyota Starlet 51pts; etc
CMRC Group 2: 1st Marc Gill 150 points; 2nd Mark Thompson 90pts; 3rd Jordan Powell (JAM), Honda Civic 75pts; 4th Shairaz Roshandin (GUY), Civic 61pts; 5th Mark Williams (T&T), Civic 55pts; 6th Damien Nesbit (T&T), Nissan Sentra 52pts; etc
CMRC Superstock: 1st Stephen Vieira 133 points; 2nd Elliot Vieira 119pts; 3rd Robert McDonald (JAM), Yamaha YZF-R6 45pts; equal 4th David Bell (JAM), Honda CBR RR600 & Joel Neblette (GUY), Suzuki GSX-R600 36pts; 6th Matthew Vieira (GUY), Triumph Daytona 28pts; etc.
Meanwhile, here is a list of the competitors and the Groups they will compete in:
Seaboard Marine CMRC Group 4
11 Andrew King (GUY), Mazda RX-7
17 Kristian Boodoosingh (T&T), Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 6.5
26 Peter Rae (JAM), Mazda RX-7
29 Danny Persaud (GUY), Mazda Miata
83 Sammy Cumberbatch (BAR), BMW M3
86 Mark Maloney (BAR), Mazda RX-3
90 Kurt Thompson (BAR), Honda CRX
161 Kevin Jeffrey (GUY), Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX
261 Kristian Jeffrey (GUY) Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX
Seaboard Marine CMRC Group 3
1 Roshan Ali (GUY), Toyota Starlet Turbo
7 Kenrick Husbands (BAR), Toyota Starlet
19 Rameez Mohammed (GUY), Toyota Starlet Turbo
29 Danny Persaud (GUY), Mazda Miata
47 Ronald Wortman (T&T), Honda Civic
24 Gavin Guyadin (GUY), BMW
56 Kevin Deodass (GUY), Toyota Starlet Turbo
75 Ravi Singh (T&T), Mazda RX-7
76 Steve King (BAR), Toyota Starlet
79 Gary Barrett (CAY), Honda Civic
81 Mark Thompson (BAR), Honda Civic
83 Sammy Cumberbatch (BAR), BMW M3
88 Afraz Allie (GUY), Toyota Starlet Turbo
90 Kurt Thompson (BAR), Honda CRX
104 Paul Vieira (T&T), Mazda RX-7
107 Natasha Chang (JAM), Honda S2000
117 Neil Thompson (BAR), Honda Civic
121 Syed Hassan (GUY), Toyota Starlet Turbo
154 Riaz Allie (GUY), Toyota Glanza Turbo
397 WR Reaz (GUY), Toyota Starlet Turbo
597 Oliver Tjin Lip Shie (SUR), Honda Civic
Seaboard Marine CMRC Group 2
7 Kenrick Husbands (BAR), Toyota Starlet
8 Marc Gill (T&T), Honda Civic
10 Chet Singh (GUY), Honda Civic
30 Shiraz Roshandin (GUY), Honda Civic
32 Haresh Nanan (T&T), Nissan Sentra B13
39 John Joseph (GUY), Honda Civic
48 Justin Sanguinette (T&T), Honda Civic
51 Andre Dhanraj (GUY), Volkswagen Golf
67 Adrian Bailey (BAR), Peugeot 205
70 Ryan Rahaman (GUY), Ford Escort MkI
81 Mark Thompson (BAR), Honda Civic
83 Damien Nesbit (T&T), Nissan Sentra B13
98 Joe Mohan (GUY), Toyota Levin
105 Rafeek Khan (GUY), Toyota Starlet
112 Raj Singh (GUY), Honda Civic
117 Neil Thompson (BAR), Honda Civic
122 Quincy Jones (BAR), Toyota Starlet
140 Tremaine Forde-Catwell (BAR), Daihatsu Charmant
275 Shan Seejattan (GUY), Honda Civic
285 Aqueeb Ali (T&T), Honda Civic
786 Yazid Ali (T&T), Honda Civic
Seaboard Marine CMRC Superstock
11 Shirley Scantlebury (BAR), Suzuki GSX-R600
12 Luke De Nobriga (T&T), Suzuki GSX-R600
15 Carlos Rodriques (GUY), Yamaha R6
27 Stephen Vieira (GUY), Suzuki GSX-R600
32 Terrance Ollivierre (BAR), Suzuki GSX-R600
33 Elliot Vieira (GUY), Kawasaki ZX6-R
48 Matthew Vieira (GUY), Triumph Daytona
64 Brook Miller (BAR), Suzuki GSX-R600
93 Kevin Persaud (GUY), Kawasaki ZX6-R
100 Joel Neblette (GUY), Suzuki GSX-R600
193 Devan McCartney (BAR), Suzuki GSX-R600
326 Kyle Reynolds (JAM), Kawasaki ZX6-R