Hot Day At Bushy Park

The Citgo Racing Oils Round 7 of the Barbados Karting Association (BKA) 2004 Frutee Championship was held this past Sunday at the Bushy Park racing circuit in St. Philip.

The soaring heat at the racetrack took its toll on both drivers and high-revving 2-stroke racing engines of the Yamaha 310-Lb Premier Class, as Alan Maynard blew the engine of his number 14 Birel in the third race, while Michael Lambert's number 39 Gold 355 did not finish the first race, blowing the engine on the final lap.

Seemingly untroubled by the heat in the air-and on the track, number 6 Orry Hunte, back from a successful race session in Canada, was only prevented from making a clean sweep of all races in the 310-Lb class by the in-form Dane McConney with his number 32 Gunk/Anti Corrosion Technology Deavinson Sprint, who despite damaging an axle sprocket and being sidelined in the second race, came back to win the third race from Orry in dramatic fashion.

Orry also overcame rare mechanical troubles to win the fourth and final race-and secure first-position for the class with 93 points, while Dane finished third with 65 points.

Rallying freshman Matthew "Snuffy" Staffner showed little sign of rust as he returned to competitive Karting for the first time in over four months, to drive his Structural Systems Kart to second overall and 81 points.

Many of the world's best drivers turn to Karting in their off-season to keep their racing skills finely tuned; this seemed no different with the local racing scene as rally driver Mark Thompson (right), registered for the Yamaha 330-Lb Heavy Class, and was good enough to relegate Heavy Class championship leader Sean Downie to second overall by tallying 96 points with three of four race wins, while Sean ended with 68 points.

In the Yamaha 270-Lb Sportsman Class for juniors, Dane Skeete continued his excellent run to win all races and finish with a perfect 100 points with his number 12 Goodyear/Citgo sponsored Birel.

The duel of the day again featured Conor Roach in a Gold 355 and Jesse Kelly in his CGM//Herrs Birel as they traded punches like lightweight boxers to earn two second-place finishes apiece for an even 78 points-ending with the same score for the second successive race meet.

Also returning to Karting from successful motor racing is the exiting Maloney trio, Sean, Stuart and Mark.

Driving a borrowed kart, Stuart opened his account with an exiting victory in the race one, but was clearly affected by mechanical problems as Sean's victory in the third race allowed him to once again earn bragging rights over his siblings by finishing the day in second overall with 85 points, while Stuart finished third overall with 78 points and Mark fourth with 52.

Vincentian driver Ryan Gonsalves (right) found the going rough in his number 4 Red Bull-sponsored Tracey Kart, but was still able to record victories in the second and final race, as well as second place behind Stuart in the opening race, to finish first overall with 89 points in the gearbox kart class, just ahead of Sean Maloney.

Mark Maloney still had something to celebrate, as his young son Justin, seemed to come to terms with the demands of driving a Junior Cadet shifter-kart and was able to finish al four of the allotted races for first in that class.

Closing the day's proceeding was Allan Kelly, Secretary of the BKA Management Committee who thanked BKA sponsor Mr. Ansari Muhajiri of Citgo Racing Oils, for taking time out to witness the day's proceeding and supporting the club and welcomed all to attend the next 2004 Frutee Championship round scheduled for Sunday October 10th, at the Bushy Park racing facility in St. Philip.