Shewjattan is back and looking to affirm his class at CMRA

Jun 12, 2014 Sports

By Rawle Welch
Rupie Shewjattan is back. He made this known to Kaieteur Sport yesterday during an interview via telephone to confirm his participation at the upcoming opening leg of the newly-formed Caribbean Motor Racing Association (CMRA) which is scheduled to be staged on July 6, at the recently reconstructed Bushy Park facility in Barbados.

Group 4 racer Rupie Shewjattan poses with his Mitsubishi Evolution 5 outside of Auto Fashion.

Shewjattan, who started racing in 1996 in a Toyota Starlet in the Group 2 category, has been added to a strong Guyana contingent that will take on the best racers in the Caribbean on the newly-re-laid Circuit which recently hosted the Top Gear Festival that had in attendance former Formula 1 champion Britain’s Lewis Hamilton among others.
The outstanding local racer, who has competed in all parts of the Caribbean including Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago and Barbados, told this newspaper that his vast experience combined with his Mitsubishi Evolution 5, which was previously owned by Jamaican Doug ‘Hollywood’ Gore, are two crucial ingredients for success and he believes that he has them and should be able to hold his own against the opposition.
The local racer said he was relishing the prospect of racing against Gore since it would be the first time that he will be doing so after purchasing the car from him.
Quizzed on the car’s preparations, Shewjattan revealed that they’ve done a lot of work on it and credits the recent work such as refreshing the turbo among other related upgrades as responsible for its reliability and his renewed confidence.
The Guyanese driver disclosed that the team has already contracted a group of mechanics and tuners from Jamaica and they will be flying over to Barbados to apply the finishing touches ahead of race day.
“We’ve done preparatory work here, but we did not get to do testing so I’m hoping to get in early and ensure that all the work on the machine is completed long before the time trials are held,” Shewjattan informed.
The usually confident Shewjattan expressed confidence of doing well at the opening leg, adding that he has no fear for any one of the drivers in the championship.
Shewjattan made a return to action at last November’s Caribbean Meet and performed creditably and according to him, he is hoping to take the same momentum into the Barbados leg of the Series.
“I’m going to give it my best shot; I’m representing my country so my focus will be to secure valuable points for the team.”
He said he is hoping that his usual sponsors Buddy’s Housing, Agri Parts, Palm Court, Prem’s Electrical and Auto Fashion, all come on board and offer their support to make his participation possible.
Meanwhile, the other members of the strong Guyana contingent are: Group 4- Kevin and Kristian Jeffrey, Andrew King and Vishok Persaud, Group 2- Shairaz Roshandin, Chet Singh, John Joseph, Danny Persaud and Andre Dhanraj, while the Superbikers are Nikhil Seereeram, Matthew Vieira, Carlos Mendonca and Nicholas Boodram.