By Stephan Sookram

FORMER shifter-kart driver Stephan Jeffrey made a successful re-entry to motor racing, finishing on the podium twice in last Sunday’s first National Race of Champions of the Guyana Motor Racing and Sports Club.

Jeffrey picked up one second- and one third-place finish in the group three class with only his second sitting in the car, prompting a bright future for him now as a race car competitor.
Starting his career in the pocket-rocket, division locally, the Guyanese moved abroad to Canada to continue his studies but still maintained his racing interests and ultimately found his way back on the track, this time among some of that country’s finest.
According to the No.2 driver for team GP Canada, “Karting was a good platform for me, especially from a driving point of view, and the competition in Canada. I mean I started at South Dakota but the level that we race at in Canada was completely different to Guyana. It was actually an eye-opener at first but I still managed to hold my own.”
He was surrounded by a number of experienced individuals inclusive of mechanics and engineers during his tenure in Canada, averaging some 300 laps at a time during sessions.
The Guyanese, however, had to apply the brakes to his racing career and shift gears to make his education a priority.
“I decided to take a step back, finish my degree; make sure I have my papers in order and now that I’ve moved back here, I can get back into racing for fun,” said Jeffrey, adding, “Racing is nice and everything but that’s not going to pay my bills. I’m a realistic person.”
He continued, “I’m not really a big fan of drinking or going out every weekend. It’s easy for me to close down the shutters in the afternoon and go to the back and work on the car.”
Reflecting on his debut, the younger Jeffrey contended that he did a fair job, saying, “We had some brake issues; my brake was overheating all day, so we had to keep bleeding brakes during intervals, I know that it would have been tough nonetheless.”
The former shifter kart competitor said, “We still managed to bring home a second and a third which I intend to use as a solid platform to build off.”
According to Stefan, the car is destined for group two, but due to wanting seat time, and the love of the sport, he decided to use the car as he bought it, from Surinamese Oliver Tjin Liep Shie, and run in the group three class where the car was last used.
“For now my interests will be definitely local, want to develop the car properly before I hit the Caribbean scene. Rest assured that I do really want to represent the country, for sure, 100 percent. But that is most likely going to come next year.”
His car was sponsored by Hose and Bolts, Stanley DeWalt, Automotive Art and Paul’s Mufflers.

FAMILY SUPPORT
Family bonds are always important and in the case of Stefan, he always had support.
Being the cousin of current back-to-back defending Caribbean champion Kristian Jeffrey has its perks and – even before Kristian was the hottest thing regionally – the duo often sparred it out at May competitions.
Stefan said, “Both Kristian and I, we used each other as building blocks. He built off my strengths and I built off his. We knew each other because we grew up with each other and we grew up racing. We knew each other’s weaknesses or strengths; that’s why it was so competitive back in the karting days.”
“Without him, I don’t think I would have had the level of competitive drive and I don’t think he would have had the same without me, in those days,” contended the driver.
On his return to racing, Stefan said his cousin offered him the most support, saying, “He loved it; yesterday we were sitting down saying ‘it’s a long time we haven’t seen each other in the racing suits’.”
“Unfortunately it’s not in the same class, that would have been amazing but still as a family we still stand by each other and support each other.”

UPLIFTED QUOTES
“Racing is nice and everything but that’s not going to pay my bills. I’m a realistic person.”- Stefan Jeffrey

“I’m not really a big fan of drinking or going out every weekend. It’s easy for me to close down the shutters in the afternoon and go in the back and work on the car.” – Stefan Jeffrey