King racing for lap record
“My focus on Sunday is to take back my track record,” said Guyana’s ace driver Andrew King as he prepares for tomorrow’s National Race of Champions at the South Dakota Circuit, which also marks the opening of the 2009 racing season.
King’s lap record of 35.98s was shattered by Jamaica’s David Summerbell who shaved four-tenths of a second off the record to set a new benchmark of 34.98s last year November in the final leg for the Caribbean Race of Champions series in Guyana.
However he did say that at present his car, a tube-frame Mazda RX7, is nowhere near competition speed. King said that his team is now battling with a fuel injection system error which had caused him a lot of worries last year.
“I would say that I’m about 80% there and hopefully … my crew will get it right in time for Sunday. But we are working hard at getting up to speed so that I can reach my goal which is to take back my lap record,” said the former Caribbean champion driver.
King competes in the Group ‘4’ category and one of his biggest rivals is none other than Mark Vieira. The two daredevils keep the pulse in the rivalry beating with their breathtaking performances and things got more heated this time off the track when they acquired sponsorship from rival cellular service providers in Guyana.
Vieira is sponsored by Digicel while King drives under the banner of GT&T Cellink Plus and this has brought tremendous interest to the rivalry between the two drivers.
This year, Vieira will be sitting in his new Mazda RX8 which is said to be a one-of-its-kind in Guyana.
“Mark has always been a good rival or competitor and is one of our best drivers in Guyana,” King said when he was quizzed about his thoughts about coming up against Vieira in his new machine. But he also notes that the group will be much tougher this year because of some of the other competitors.
Kevin Jeffrey’s Mitsubishi EVO8 car, King says, is certainly one to look for. But to sum things up, King says he is expecting a stiff day at the track tomorrow since as compared to last year, the drivers have all done a tremendous amount of work to their machines.
Meanwhile President of the GMR&SC Vishok Persaud said he was elated with the response shown by the drivers and their teams towards the opening of the motor racing season since they have all gone the extra mile to put their machines in high level competition mode.
He said that based on feedback and his personal checks, the competitors are more than ready to race.
Persaud is of the opinion that the Group ‘3’ and ‘4’ categories will be a clear crowd favourite because the machines in those events are either new or have gone through tremendous makeovers.
Twenty-five events are carded for the day starting at 9:00 am, stretched across eight groups – Rookies, Group 2A&B, Group 3&4, Open Class Motorcycles, Lightweight Motorcycles and Shifter 125cc Go-karts.
The event is co-sponsored by GT&T Cellink Plus, CARIB Beer and Sunburst Orange Juice.
