By Stephan Sookram
THE Caribbean Motor Racing Association (CMRA) intends to continue the momentum of a successful 2015 with the announcement of dates for the 2016 edition of the four- leg championships.

Chronicle Sport has learnt that the CMRA committee which met in Guyana recently, has outlined that May 21st- 23rd will be the opening round of the 2016 edition of the six- country CMRA championships.
That round will take place at the Jamwest Raceway in Westmoreland, Jamaica, while round two returns to the Frankie Boodram Raceway in Arima, Trinidad and Tobago from July 22nd-24th
Barbados Bushy Park Raceway in St Phillips will play host to round three from September 2nd-4th, while the season will culminate with the final leg and presentation ceremony from November 11-14th at the South Dakota Circuit.
Seaboard Marine has again signed on the title sponsors for the 2016 edition of the championships, with their major contribution being the transportation of cars among the four countries during the four legs of the competition.
According to Vice- President Stephen Bell, who gave an address during the 2015 presentation ceremony here in Guyana, the company has invested a large sum of money over the years in making the CMRC (Caribbean Motor Racing Championships) a success.
He warned the management committee of the CMRA to uphold the standard of the sport and not let it become like other major Caribbean disciplines, closing off by saying that racing in the Caribbean has a friend in Seaboard Marine.
Guyana fought tooth and nail to retain their coveted country title after a mere eight points separated Guyana (936) from the returning ‘Tigers’ team of Trinidad (924), who had a strong showing throughout the Caribbean this year.
Barbados, 660 and Jamaica 269 were the other countries in the championships, while the lone contender for the Cayman Islands, Gary Barrett, racked up 158 points and Suriname’s Oliver Tjin Leip Shie 25 points.
Meanwhile, Kristian Jeffrey successfully retained his Group 4 championship after a successful year.
The Guyanese two-time champion picked up 225 points from an almost perfect season, leaving his nearest competitor and only competition Trinidadian Kristian Boodoosingh second on 152 points.
Way down in third was Trinidad’s Gerard Carrington with 58 points.
At the Group 2 level, Trinidad’s Marc Gill carted off that title after amassing 189 points from the four legs of competition, while Barbadian Mark Thompson could produce only second (118 points after just two legs of competition) and Guyana’s Shairaz Roshandin third with 84 points.
The Group 3 end of things also featured a Trinidadian representative in Paul Vieira, who carted off 169 points from three legs, while The Cayman Islands Barrett, who was awarded for being the most consistent and competitive driver of the CMRC 2015, picked up second (138 points.)
Barbadian Kurt Thompson ended third with 104 points, while Guyana’s Danny Persaud ended fourth with 82 points.
On the Superbike end of things, Elliot Vieira produced the ride of a lifetime to be crowned the youngest CMRA Bike champion, after his cousin Stephen had suffered several injuries a few weeks before the races.
He ended with 161 points, clear of Stephen’s 143 and Matthew Vieira’s 100 points.