Seaboard Marine CMRC opens new era for Wallerfield

Jun 16, 2015 Sports

---

More than 40 regional drivers are making final preparations for this weekend’s (June 20/21) second round of the 2015 Seaboard Marine Caribbean Motor Racing Championship. Organised by the Trinidad & Tobago

Automobile Sports Association (TTASA), the event will christen the newly-resurfaced Wallerfield Raceway, kick-starting a new era for motor sport in the twin-island state.
While Jamaica, which hosted the opening round at Jamwest Speedway (February 28/March 1), took a huge early lead in the Country standings, a big shake-up is in prospect next weekend: T&T’s Team Tigers outnumber the overseas contenders two to one in both the Group 4 and Group 2 races, so are aiming for a big points haul. With 323 points, Jamaica’s Reggae Racers lead Guyana (159pts), T&T (126pts) and Cayman Islands (62pts), with Barbados yet to score.
Reigning CMRC Driver’s Champion, Guyana’s Kristian Jeffrey (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VIII), heads for Wallerfield with a comfortable lead in Group 4 after a hat-trick of wins in Jamaica. He will be hoping for better luck than in August last year, when a puncture picked up from debris from another race car while leading race one dropped him to fifth, after which gearbox problems left him side-lined for the rest of the day.
He faces a much stronger field this year, although only three of the 16 drivers on the provisional entry list have so far scored points: Jamaica’s Peter Rae (Mazda RX-7) – he was a race-winner at Wallerfield back in 2006 – Guyana’s Danny Persaud (Mazda Miata) and hometown hero Franklyn Boodram, who leads Team Tigers into battle in his Renault Megane Trophy. The home team is packed with potential, including the Evos of Ruddy Beekee, Kristian Boodoosingh and Gerrard Carrington and Guyana’s Paul Vieira, who will again score points for T&T in his former Mazda RX-7, now owned by George Deen.
Barbados is represented by the Maloney Racing Team entries of father Doug (Audi A4 quattro) and son Mark (Mazda RX-3). Both have finished in the CMRC top three at year-end in the past and have a distinguished record in regional events, Doug now in his fifth decade of competition.
The work done to level the playing field in Group 2 since the Caribbean Motor Racing Association (CMRA) took over the running of the CMRC at the start of last year has really started to bear fruit, with a solid entry of 18. Again, however, only a handful of drivers have already scored points – in this case just two – but there is a good chance that the Group could be led by a member of Team Tigers by the end of the weekend: Marc Gill (Honda Civic) and Damien Nesbit (Nissan Sentra) are second and third, the points-leader Jamaica’s Jordan Powell, who enjoyed a hat-trick of wins at home, not touring.
They will have their work cut out, however, particularly with the visitors: from Barbados come defending CMRC Group 2 Champion Mark Thompson (Civic) and teenager Tremaine Forde-Catwell (Daihatsu Charmant), both of whom have also won karting titles in the past. Thompson will also renew his rivalry with T&T’s Ryan Peyrau (Suzuki Swift Sport): they are among the front-runners in the Suzuki Challenge Series Swift Cup in Barbados, Peyrau – another former kart champion – the points-leader after two rounds.
While Kyle Gregg (Civic) is the lone Jamaican, he has twice been Champion Driver at home on the Dover Raceway and is an all-round talent – Rally Jamaica winner last year – so will be one to watch. From Guyana come Ryan Rahaman, a multiple Group Champion at South Dakota, who will enjoy an outing in his father Jad’s race-winning Ford Escort, consistent points-scorer Shiraz Roshandin (Civic) and Kemal Rahaman, who has forsaken his former Mazda RX-7 for a Nissan Sentra.
All the entries in the new-for-2015 CMRC Group 3 category are from overseas, as TTASA’s current class regulations differ; Gary Barrett (Civic) of the Cayman Islands is the points-leader here, chased by Guyana’s Rameez Mohammed and Afraz Allie, both in Toyota Starlet Turbos, and the Honda S2000 of Jamaica’s Natasha Chang.
In addition to three races for each of the CMRC Groups, Sunday’s programme will also include points-scoring races for TTASA’s local categories, plus a Supercar event and drifting demonstrations. Saturday will be devoted to Practice and Qualifying.
The Seaboard Marine CMRC will continue at Bushy Park Barbados on September 12/13, with the decider at South Dakota in Guyana on November 14/15. Competitors who contest all four rounds will drop their three lowest scores from the 12 races.
Seaboard Marine CMRC
Positions after round 1, Jamwest, Jamaica (February 28/March 1, 2015)
Group 4 – 1st Kristian Jeffrey (GUY), Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX, 75 points; 2nd George Bayley (JAM), Evo VIII, 51pts; 3rd Peter Rae (JAM), Mazda RX-7, 30pts; 4th Franklyn Boodram (T&T), Renault Megane Trophy, 27pts; 5th Danny Persaud (GUY), Mazda Miata, 15pts; 6th Jamie James (JAM), RX-8, 12pts; 7th Chris Campbell (JAM), BMW V8, 10pts
Group 3 – 1st Gary Barrett (CAY), Honda Civic Turbo, 62 points; 2nd Rameez Mohammed (GUY), Toyota Starlet Turbo, 36pts; 3rd Afraz Allie (GUY), Starlet Turbo, 33pts; 4th Natasha Chang (JAM), Honda S2000, 30pts; 5th Noel Golding (JAM), Honda Civic, 25pts; 6th Ricardo Scott (JAM), Toyota Corolla, 24pts
Group 2 – 1st Jordan Powell (JAM), Honda Civic, 75 points; 2nd Marc Gill (T&T), Civic, 54pts; 3rd Damien Nesbit (T&T), Nissan Sentra, 45pts; 4th Owen Campbell (JAM), Civic, 34pts; 5th Robin Sutherland, (JAM), Honda CRX, 32pts
Country Championship – 1st Jamaica 323 points; 2nd Guyana 159pts; 3rd Trinidad & Tobago 126pts; 4th Cayman Islands 62pts.

---

---