By Glenroy Sinclair, Staff ReporterJAMAICA'S JOEL Jackson and Jonathan Fong Yee registered convincing wins on the opening day of the International Go-Kart race meet, which got underway yesterday at the Palisadoes International Raceway in Kingston.
"Only one race out of each classes were run. The other races will be run tomorrow," president of the Jamaica Karting Association (JKA), Andrew Jackson, told The Gleaner yesterday.
Light competitors Fong Yee and Jackson took the chequered flag in the Rotax Max and 125cc Shifter Karts events respectively. Their closest overseas rival was Trinidad and Tobago's Ravi Singh, who finished third in one of the events.
CHALLENGING CIRCUIT
Making a quick assessment of the overseas drivers, the JKA president says they are yet to get used to manoeuvring the smooth, but challenging circuit.
Among the other winners on the card were young Timothy Stewart in the Junior Sportsman Class and Peter Rae in the Heavy Class. The Light Class event went to Jonathan Fong Yee, who had been absent from the track for sometime.
The meet will continue today at 10:00 a.m. with the running of the remaining three races in each classes. The Trinidadians need to win at least two of the three remaining Rotax or Shifter races to improve their chances of defeating the host country.
Their main hopes will centre around Ravi Singh, who participated in the last JKA international go-kart meeting more than 10 years at the Palisadoes International raceway.
"We are having a rough time but we are now making some changes to the karts and should be more competitive tomorrow (today)," Singh told The Gleaner yesterday.
Rated among the top motorsport drivers in Trinidad, Singh said he got a faulty start in the Shifter Kart event, but believes he will bounce back and finished third. He was impressed with the talent of the Jamaica's Under 15 karters.
"This is something we would love to implement in Trinidad," commented Singh.
Jamaica's Peter Rae says the time was too short for the Trinidadians to get used to the track, but in spite of this, he said they have put up a good show so far.
