More spills than thrills at South Dakota
- Stephen Vieira wins three; Rahaman, Mark Vieira, Kristian Jeffrey two races each
By Sonia Herbert
Stabroek News
February 26, 2007
Despite driving with a severe disability, motor-racer, Kemal Rahaman, scorched the race track yesterday to win two out of three Group Two `B' races at the National Motor Racing championship at the South Dakota Circuit.
After placing third in the first Group Two `B' event over eight laps to Ryan Rahaman and John Joseph, Rahaman roared back to score consecutive wins in the second and third races in the category.
Much was expected of seasoned Group Two campaigner Andrew Morgan, who had bypassed the Masramani activities in order to get his Mazda RX7 in shape for yesterday's meet but Morgan's initial foray into the Group Three category and though he failed to take the chequered flag in his three attempts he would not be altogether too unhappy with his second placed finish in the final Group Three race and his third placed finish in the first and second races.
The much-anticipated showdown between Andrew King and Mark Vieira lived up to its billing and were the most exciting races of the meet.
King was out of the blocks quickly overtaking Vieira in the second lap and holding on to win the first Group Three event over eight laps.
Vieira, who had blown his gearbox during the first Group Three event, was the recipient of a gesture of good sportsmanship by King who loaned his rival a gearbox thereby allowing him to compete in the second race.
However the gesture (obviously) was not returned by Vieira who raced to victory setting the stage for the deciding Group Three race to determine who would be number one.
But the anticipated thriller never materialized as King spun off the track in the third lap and after that Vieira held off a stiff challenge from Morgan before prevailing. Third was Khem Lall.
The Group Two `A' category was split three ways with Chet Singh driving a Honda Civic winning the first event ahead of John Joseph and Raymond Alli.
The second Group Two `A' race saw a major collision at the first turn which involved five of the nine cars contesting the event.
Shivanand Seebarran and Raymond Alli were forced out of the event while Chet Singh, whose Honda Civic though damaged continued and placed fourth.
The race was won by Peter Morgan, while Mohammed `Shyraj' Roshandin placed second and Joseph third.
The final race of the Group Two A was won by Roshandin followed by Chet Singh, who rallied with the damaged vehicle and Jack Singh, who took third position.
In the Go Cart races Kristian Jeffrey dominated the track winning two of the three races. The third race was affected by spills and was not concluded.
Veteran racer Stanley Ming was allowed just one second place finish in the final Go-Cart race while Robert Hiscock also got one second placed finish in the first Go Cart race.
There was little co-ordination between two of the Jeffrey family members as father Kevin and son Steven were involved in a collision in the second 125 Go-Cart race. Another sibling Kristian did not get involved in the family squabble but did collide with Stanley Ming approaching the gooseneck after battling it out with the veteran side by side.
A number of contestants dropped out the Rookie race which was won by Syed Hassan followed by Afraz Ali and Pierre Singh respectively.
Meanwhile, Stephen Vieira rode off with all three of the Big Bike races with Gregory Lopes occupying three second positions.
A number of motor-vehicle and spare parts companies gave exclusive sponsorship for each race.
The award ceremony for the outstanding drivers and riders will take place on Friday.