Da Silva, Rajkarran and Ramkumar thrill crowd
SIXTEEN-YEAR-OLD Jerry Da Silva and Rajkarran and Vikash Ramkumar last Sunday took the opportunity given them by Lake Mainstay Resort and other business entities of Corporate Guyana, to thrill grass track racing fans in the Cinderella County of Essequibo, when they battled for supremacy in their respective category at the second annual Lake Mainstay Riders’ Fest.
Competing at the Anna Regina Community Centre ground, Da Silva survived a spill during the honour lap and several others during the day to battle with Rajkarran in the five professional races while Ramkumar dominated three of the four Novices events.
Da Silva got things started in the first race of the day, when he fought tooth and nail with Rajkarran in the professional 12-lap event, edging him on the line for the top podium finish, with Vassy Barry taking third.
Rajkarran turned the tables on his younger foe, by taking the next two races in their category, with Da Silva and Ramkumar taking second and third in the first and Da Silva and Nicholas Budhram second and third in the third professional race.
In the fourth professional race, Andy Rajkarran, whose younger brother Raj Rajkarran competed in the Novices category, and Da Silva repeated their thrills of the first race, with the elder Rajkarran leading the four-man field until the penultimate lap.
Da Silva went wide on the turn for home to receive the white flag – which signalled the start of the final lap – ahead of Andy Rajkarran who fought gallantly to regain the lead but was unable to do so, as Da Silva just edged home, with Budhram, who found himself engaged in another battle with Barry, taking third.
In the final professional race of the day, Da Silva and Andy Rajkarran had a collision as they approached the starter for the 10th lap, the result of which saw both riders withdrawing from the event which was won by Budhram, with Barry taking second.
Many thought that it was the end of the day for the two entertainers, but that was not so as they defied the odds to compete in the 12-lap Open race, in which Da Silva suffered another spill on the eighth lap and was forced to call it quits.
With no competitor left to challenge him seriously, Andy Rajkarran avoided the areas that would have created spills and mishaps to take the top prize, from Budhram and Barry respectively.
Unlike Da Silva and the older Rajkarran, Ramkumar had no serious competitor in the Novices category as he won all three races comfortably, at times doing so by five or even six bike lengths over the second-placed finisher.
In fact, his superiority was so phenomenal, that he lapped the sixth-placed rider in two out of his three races and had he not suffered a spill in the third race of the Novices category when he was about to lap the entire field, he would have made it four out of four. Instead he ended with three victories.
There were two races held for Chappies and 100cc bikes, with the spoils being shared by Avo Ramkumar and Tevin Seales, with Kennard Spelling and Vishal Shivmangal finishing second and third to Avo Ramkumar in the first and Avo Ramkumar and Spelling second to Seales in the second.

With his three wins in the Novices category, Vikash Ramkumar easily won for himself the Champion Rider of that division, while Andy Rajkarran and Da Silva shared the spoils in the Professional category.
Apart from Lake Mainstay Resort, whose Director Wilfred Jagnarine was on hand to assist with the distribution of prizes and also thank the riders and fans for their support, Digicel (Guyana) Incorporated, Health Care Pharmacy, Safeway Supermarket, G&P Jaigobin and Sons, Nazim Taxi Service, Dickie Rice Mill and Republic Bank (Guyana) Limited all contributed to the success of the day’s event.