Saturday CoverageGill stars as FBIR welcomes the Caribbean for CMRC
It was an afternoon of triumph for Marc Gill and the Mobil 1 sponsored Honda civic asthey mopped the floor with the competition in the group two class of the second Round of the Seaboard Marine Caribbbean Motor Racing championships (CMRC).
Gill, a former group two champion was untouchable in the opening round of the race weekend on Saturday as he romped from pole to flag to get his CMRC 2018 campaign off to a winning note.
Speaking to TriniTuner.com, he said, “Its been a rough beginning of the year, trying to get the car dialled [in]. I was actually trying till 3 O Clock his morning sorting out the brakes on the car because we had some issues with it but we did good in qualifying and I knew we had a chance of coming on the podium.”
Gill posted a 44.106 second time to pip countryman Justin Sanguinette (44.358) for the top spot, with Mark Williams (44.534) and defending champion, Barbados Mark Thompson (44.570) all hot on his heels but his first race was anything but close.
“The car is dialled in there so I guess there is nothing to touch on the car. Coming out tomorrow [Sunday] same attitude, to win and see if I can get that 75 points wrapped up so see if I could do a second CMRC Championship.”
Gill was not the only ray of sunshine on the overcast afternoon in Arima, as Ronald Wortman and the Honda Civic crew got the better of reining group three champion Paul Vieira and his Mazda Rx7.
Before that though, they were all at the mercy of Kristian Boodoosingh and the Spartan branded Honda Civic who had imposed a sizable lead with just over half the race gone.
He had earlier posted a qualifying time of 39.640 seconds to eclipse the rest of the field, Wortman finishing second best in the session with a 41.156 and Vieira a 43.170.
However mechanical issues forced “Boodoostig” out and left the win for Wortman who nursed his Civic home ahead of Vieira and Marc Mohamed.
Things were not as bright for hometown hero Franklyn Boodram who had to settle for second with Guyanese Mark Vieira drawing first blood.
After starting fifth on the grid, Boodram carved his way up the pack and eventually got to third, embroiling himself in a battle with Guyana’s Andrew King and his Mazda Rx7; a battle which he eventually won on the closing stages of the race.
He said, “I ordered tyres out of Italy from Michelin and I was informed about a week and a half ago that the tyres were discontinued.
Unfortunately, I’m running on old tyres. [my] front tyres are like four years old and my back tyres are at least two years old. So I am losing about seven-tenths of a second a lap. I really would turn flat 40’s or 39.9, just around there.”
“Still, im grateful for the result, I started practically last qualified at 41.6 which was a terrible time and we got it down in the 40’s this race but I guess that’s the adrenaline rush,” he added.
Boodram also finished second in the group five behind Mark Maloney and his SR3 Radical.
On the two-wheel end of things, Keil Abrahams had the perfect start but could not hold off the fight of Team Mohamed’s Matt Truelove who eventually won the first of the CMRC Super Stock race.
Truelove out-qualified the pack with a 40.632 second time and Abrahams was impressive with a 41.651 second time for the second spot on the grid with Matthew Vieira third with a 42.170.
And while Truelove lost time on the start, Keil was able to capitalise and get ahead quickly, leading for three laps before surrendering the lead to Truelove.
Keil contended, “The guy [Truelove] is really fast and the bike is really planted. I tried but he overtook me on the last corner of the second lap and I was holding on to him on the straight and I tried to brake with him on the first corner and I sort of ran wide and from that lil gap he had, he expanded it.”
HE contended that the team Trinidad is eager to show the Caribbean what they can do, with Nicholas Gonzalves having an incident on the final lap after an enterprising ride to third.
In the group one, Aqeeb Ali won ahead of Aslim Ali and Steve Hossain. Races continue today from 09:00.
Sixteen year old Isa Deen was in good form as he provided some much needed competition during the inaugural SR3 Radical Caribbean cup. Deen battled the Barbadians, being a constant thorn in their sides until a bit of contact and inexperience saw him spin on the entrance of the hairpin. He managed to restart and finish fourth after battling through two cars with the laps diminishing quickly.