Seven nations have planned a November assault on Guyana with the South Dakota Circuit as the battle field. Teams from the United States, Canada, Barbados, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, St. Vincent and the Grenadines and Suriname all plan to roll all over the local quicks at the Guyana Motor Racing and Sports Club’s(GMR&SC) November 4 meet. Standing in their way are the usual suspects Mark Vieira and Andrew King but this time they will have ample support in each category, group and event. President of the GMRSC Vishok Persaud says he expects this to be the largest meet ever in terms of participation. “We see this shaping up to be the biggest ever meet with record participation and local attendance,” Persaud said. He added that the overseas competitors will begin arriving in the country today with their machines all landing in Guyana by Monday. Persaud himself will join Vieira and King on the frontlines along with Ray Rahaman, Ryan Rahaman, Jad Rahaman, Vishaul Sawh, Rupie Shewjattan, Kamal Seebarran and a slew of other local speedsters virtually chomping at the bit to make their mark on Caribbean racing. They will attempt to stave off the Jamaican challenge of David Sommerbell, Doug Gore, Gary Williams and Peter Rae all in the marquee group three category. Barbados which boasts arguably the highest crowd attendance in regional racing is sending Shawn Boxhill, Kenrick Husbands, Doug Maloney, Steve King and Sammy Commerbatch to take South Dakota by storm. Guyana’s neighbours to the east will be represented by Oliver Tjin-Liep-shie, David Nabby and another driver whose name they have not yet submitted. Trinidad’s charge will be led by the likes of Ravi Singh, Christian Bourne and Tanko Baboolall while St Vincent and the Grenadines will be represented by Ryan Gonsalves in his tube frame Mazda RX7. From the United States Dwayne Rodrigues, Copper Rahaman, Debbie Mendonca and Joe Mohan will lead a team of nine while fan favourite Kevin Graham of Canada has already sent ahead his instrument of destruction, his 1000 cc Super Bike. He will arrive in the country this weekend and will lead a team that includes Craig Atkinson, Mike Betancourt and Shawn King. Word around racing circles is that the GMRSC President is planning an assault on the course record at the South Dakota circuit. In the lead up to the meet Stabroek Sport will be featuring some of the local and overseas participants to give racing fans an up close and personal look at the combatants and their hardware. With less than 10 days remaining, racing fans will no doubt be keeping a countdown to next Sunday’s action. The main sponsors for this year’s Race of Champions are GT&T Blue Power, Skyline Mortage, Sunburst Orange Juice, Le Meridien Pegasus, Auto Fashions and Caribbean Airlines.
