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Guyana seems to be on a mission to recapture C/bean title
– Sunday’s Meet gave early indications
By Rawle Welch
After meekly relinquishing the Caribbean crown to Barbados last year, Guyana 
seems to be on mission to recapture the title judging from the encouraging performances that were witnessed on Sunday when the Guyana Motor Racing & Sports Club (GMR&SC) held its ‘Race of Champions’ Meet, at the impressive South Dakota Circuit.
Every category that was contested saw some frenetic battles and even though the nerve tingling showdown in the Group 4 Division had the fair-sized crowd on the edge of their seats and bracing every part of the fenced facility, no one could dispute the fact that the other smaller categories also had their fair share of excitement.
However, perhaps the most positive development apart from the fact that the Group 4 has once again come alive and is now fully subscribed, the mere fact that former champion Mark Vieira is back in the seat in his imposing Mazda RX8 should be welcome news to the fans and more importantly lend credible evidence that once he manages to keep it in tip top condition, the rest of the Caribbean will be in a serious dogfight to deny Guyana the regional crown.
Vieira’s performance barring the first race when he suffered an electrical malfunction was not only uplifting, but scary as he wormed through the field in an impressive display that will surely send fits of fright to Jamaicans David Summerbell Jnr and Doug ‘Hollywood’ Gore, while as fast as Roger Mayers’ Ford Focus may be, the skill and mastery of the local speedster was on show and all Guyana must be relieved that we have an excellent chance of regaining the title this year.
When you add the likes of Andrew King, who was unavoidably absent, the ever improving Mazda RX7 of Paul Vieira, Ryan Rahaman, who though he had told this newspaper that the car is still some way off its peak, looked pacy. Add Vishok Persaud, Kevin Jeffrey, Rupie Shewjattan, Danny Persaud and Irfaan Kalamadeen to the fray, halting Guyana’s march to victory will take some stopping.
Group 4 champion Mark Vieira (fourth right back row) poses with his family and Team in the pits yesterday.
Persaud and Kalamadeen have been the two finds in the division, especially the former, who drove courageously to battle his more established counterparts tooth and nail throughout the day and it certainly seems that with a little more exposure in the Group he could be a difficult proposition for anyone.
The Group 2A and B categories also had some close battles and even though Suriname’s Oliver Tjin-Liep-Shie dominated with two wins
from three starts and someone who has shown steady improvement over the years, guys like Vishal Sawh, Motilall Deodass and Syed Hassan has shown the ability to tussle with the best.
In the Superbike category, Stephen Vieira was once again on top of his game and as the defending champion, his form early in the season looks impeccable so Guyana could very well guarantee maximum points should he stay healthy.
But, the other encouraging development was the steely performance of Joel ‘GM’ Neblett, who appears to be enjoying the sport once again.
Neblett has always been someone touted with the talent and daredevilry to challenge the best in the business, but somehow walked away after sponsorship had dried up thereby decreasing his hunger for the sport.
That seemed to have been rectified and the challenge he threw down on Vieira and Canada’s Kevin Graham was just as heartening as any other seen throughout the day.
With the anticipated recovery of Carlos Rodrigues and the maturation and subsequent graduation of ‘B’ Class riders such as Carey Griffith and Ricardo Fagundes, Guyana looks dauntingly formidable in this department.
All in all this year should be a positive one for Guyana in motor racing and the recapture of the coveted Caribbean title should be the culmination of such.
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