… South Dakota comes alive July 18
SOME of the country’s top drivers and riders will have another crack at one other when the Guyana Motor Racing and Sports Club (GMR&SC) stages round two of the National Race of Champions at the South Dakota Circuit on Sunday, July 18. In round one of the three-part series which was held on March 28, it was Ryan Rahaman who stood out even though the circuit saw the highly anticipated return of former Caribbean Champion Mark Vieira behind the wheels of his Mazda RX8.
Ryan Rahaman, who is a descendent of several top class champion drivers from the Rahaman bloodline, is known more for his dominance in the Group 2B category with his Ford Escort but recently ventured out into the Group 3 category which has the likes of the ever-improving Gavin Guyadin and his turbo-charged BMW 4AGE.
Sticking to the Ford series of cars, Rahaman acquired a Sierra after not being able to keep up with the other elites in the group. The local champion driver was then able to reap his reward at the last race meet.
Thousands of die-hard race fans saw Rahaman drive undefeated in all his Group 3 races; winning each race convincingly and saving his most memorable performance for last.
Driving with the ‘top dogs’ when Group 3 & 4 were merged, Rahaman and his Ford Sierra defied all odds and came out on top.
His victory over the likes of Vieira, Andrew King and Kevin Jeffrey has set a precedent for the second installation of the championship since revenge will be their motive when they clash again.
The first round of the championship also saw the return of Vieira whose rivalry with his long-time nemesis King was certainly missing from South Dakota simply because since his (Vieira) acquisition of the Digicel/Shell V-Power Mazda RX8, the ace driver has been in battle to bring the machine up to its high level of competitiveness.
Vieira had various reasons for his brief hiatus from the famous Caribbean circuit and the main problem is the car’s competitiveness.
Also expecting to make a return is the Canadian Super Bike champion Kevin Graham and his homecoming would spark the anxiety plug in race fans because of his match-up with the local Valentino Rossi, Stephen Vieira.
The two last met in the final round of the Caribbean championship last year and the Guyanese rider was in superb form, clinching all three Super Bike races in convincing and dramatic fashion much to the delight of the mammoth crowd who were on hand last November.
The GMR&SC boss Aaron Bethune in several sections of the media and on the club’s website forum, had expressed his delight on the outcome of the first round and is predicting an even bigger and better round two.
Some of the drivers particularly those in Group 4 would want to use the upcoming meet as a means of preparation for round two of the Sea Board Marine-sponsored Caribbean Race of Champions which will be held in Barbados at a date to be announced.