GMR&SC National Race of Champions…Seejatan rules group two roost
The humidity of the South Dakota Circuit on Sunday was no match for Shan Seejatan who stormed the group two class of the Guyana Motor Racing and Sports Club (GMR&SC) National Race of Champions round two.
Sweltering conditions were a welcome change to the last two heavily rain soaked events of the club and competitors like Seejatan and his number 275 Honda Civic used the conditions well.
Failing to qualify Saturday, Seejatan started at the back of the grid for race one on Sunday, working his way nicely through the field up to third.
An incident between Rameez Mohamed’s Honda Civic and CAMS Honda CRX of Kemal Rahaman provided a bit of fortune for the group two champion but when it really mattered, he didn’t put a foot wrong.
Race two saw Sejatan renew a battle with Mohamed and race three saw Rahaman providing the fight but both times, Seejatan was able to come out victories with the East Coast driver in a prime spot to snag the 2022 group two champion driver trophy.
Another driver with no real trouble on the day was Stefan Jeffrey and the Vibrant Performance Honda Civic.
Suffering from a lack of temperature in the tires in race one, Jeffrey fell from pole to third before the first lap was completed but quickly made the ground up on eventual race leader Rameez Mohamed.
And from then, the duo diced lap after lap before Mohamed’s Starlet had mechanical failures.
From then, Jeffrey was untouchable in his class, even managing to attack group four and starlet competitors when the classes were merged for the last race of the day.
Starlet cup did not disappoint either, Race one there re-igniting a fire between Rameez and longtime rivals Anand Ramchand, Motilall Deodass, and Afraz Allie.
From the green flag, it was Ramchand and Mohamed battling with the later leading; the former chasing hard. It wasn’t until Ramchand’s gearbox went on vacation that Rameez could breathe easy, his day seemingly in a better condition; all up until the Starlet broke in group three.
Afraz Allie was able to pick up a comfortable win in the second race with Motilall Deodass picking up the final win of the day.
Group Four saw the welcome return of Kristian Jeffrey whose perfect sweep of three races was ruined by a sensor issue, causing him to fall out of the second race of the day.
Andrew King (Mazda RX7) and Mark Vieira (Mazda RX8) rewound the hands of time to a period when their rivalry was tooth and nail for a few laps in the final race of day, showing that the old dogs had not lost the pep in their step but neither were a match for the Mitsubishi Evolution of the second Generation Jeffrey.
Superbikes returned to South Dakota as well with Matthew Vieira winning two of the three pro class races and Kevin Persaud taking the other.
Sports Tuners (1600cc) was not short of action either, a clinical battle ensuing every race between Nasrudeen Mohamed and Mohamed Ahmad, the latter picking up two wins with Mohamed picking up the third.
Street tuner (1500cc) class saw Troy Muir pick up two wins each as well with Zafiero Ramirez picking up a win on debut.
125CC action was also a closely knit contest between the Boodram Brothers, Nicholas and Stefan and Mattew Vieira.
The club has set Thursday evening for the presentation of trophies.
