“I think my best chances of winning my first championship series is in Barbados,” says Guyana’s champion driver Andrew King as he prepares for the second round of the Caribbean Motor Racing Championship which gets revving next weekend in Barbados.
At the last Guyana Motor Racing and Sports Club (GMR&SC) National Race of Champions, King after suffering from fuel injection failure in the first round, rebounded to race unbeaten in the second round.
Speaking with Stabroek Sport yesterday, King said that his car has been running pretty well but even though he was successful at the last meet prior to shipping his machine off to Barbados, his crew made some significant changes which he thinks will enable him to go even faster.
“Well at the last meet we were having some fuel injection problems and my mechanics switched to carburetor system and you see how fast I went, but we knew that if I was to stand a chance of winning in Barbados we had to switch back to the fuel injection system,” King said.
He said further, “I tested the car using the fuel injection system at the South Dakota Circuit and I ran pretty fast, at least faster than I was at the last meet, then we shipped it off to Barbados, so I think that next weekend I would be very competitive and would do well.”
But although he is one of the region’s top drivers, he is still to win a Caribbean Championship, with his closest being in 1998 but again problems with his car hampered him.
Since then the motor racing maestro has never competed in a full series.
Like many drivers, King did not go to Jamaica for the first round of the championship and David Summerbell soared to win that round comfortably.
According to the national champion, if he stands any chance of winning the title this year, he would have to do it in Barbados by winning all his races and then look to do the same when the event comes to Guyana for the third and final leg.
“I honestly believe that I stand a chance of winning this year, once we box Summerbell in because he won all in Jamaica, I think I can do it. I don’t think Stuart (Maloney) has much points because the rest was shared between Mark (Maloney) and others, so once we keep Summerbell at bay, I think I can do it and not forgetting once my car works just as it is now,” King added.
At his last showing in Barbados, King was greeted once again with mechanical problems but the Guyanese says this time things will be different.
“I would be departing on Tuesday and hopefully we could pick the car up the same day and start my preparation the next day. I don’t want a repeat of the last time because now I am feeling very confident; the track in Barbados is more narrow and so on than ours and that can make it a bit difficult sometimes for cars like mine but I know I can go out there and do well among the rotary cars,” King maintained.
The local race ace would be competing in the Group ‘4’ category with his GT&T-sponsored Tube Frame Mazda RX7, along with fellow Guyanese Kevin Jeffrey.
