President of the Guyana Motor Racing & Sports Club Aaron Bethune told Stabroek Sport yesterday that the atmosphere is rife with anticipation as the Guyana Race of Champion approaches on March 28 at the South Dakota Circuit, Timehri.
He said that currently the planners of the event are fine tuning operations for the first meet of the year and he is also pleased that that some of the overseas competitors are already in the country and have tested their machines. Further, he expects that the spectators will enjoy every minute of the 25-race card event that will also include 125CC, Super bikes and Go-carts.
He envisions fierce competition among the top drivers especially with the return of Mark Vieira in Group-4. Earlier Vieira had issued the sternest of warnings to his competitors that he was “hungry” after his hibernation and “all competitors should bring all that they have and not to leave anything at home.”
Bethune said that he was pleased with what he has seen on the track when drivers were test driving on Sunday and Monday. He revealed that Group-4 drivers Keith Evelyn with his Mazda RX7, Vishook Persaud, competing with the Subaru and Paul Vieira, from Canada have all looked impressive during their test runs at the circuit.
He was delighted with the prospects of Kevin Jeffrey and Gavin Guyadin who has also made some changes to his car. Undoubtedly however, the racer that every driver has on his mind in the Group-4 is champion Andrew King, who is driving the Mazda RX7.
On the logistical side of the planning Bethune noted that the access roads to the venue are in good condition and the event will begin at exactly 09:00 hours.
Meanwhile, when Stabroek Sport caught up with Group-2A driver Harold Hopkinson, who is mainly sponsored by RRT, Toucan Industries, Ramchand Auto Sales and Shawn Ramrattan, he said that everything is going as planned for the event. He also revealed that the some of the racers instead of taking their car to the race track to test they have been using the Dyno-Jet Kit.
According to Hopkinson and Douglas Wilks, the 2008 Time attack champion in the USA and who is working with some of the drivers to fine tune their vehicles, the state-of-the-art equipment offers advanced diagnostics on a wide variety of vehicles. Further, vehicles with as little as 20 horsepower to race cars with 2000+ horsepower can be tested safely, consistently and reliably in the shop under ideal load conditions.
The Dyno-Jet can also accurately diagnose performance or ‘driveability’ problems in vehicles with anywhere from 20 to 2000 Hp at the drive wheels. Research also revealed that the Dyno runs can be done at speeds up to 200mph, providing safe, reliable road testing right in the shop.
An excited Hopkinson said that when Persaud’s car was tested by the first of its kind machinery in the country the results were fascinating. On a more personal note Hopkinson said that he is “ready to run with the big dogs and prepared to do some whipping of his own” in the Group-2A category.
Further, he said some of the competitors in the Rookie category have been competing there for too long despite making stipulated times. In his estimation they “are chickens and they should step out of that category and start running with the big dogs”.
The main sponsonsors of the event are GT&T’s Cellink, Carib Beer and Princess Hotel.
