May 29 will be a day of skills, thrills, spills and daredevil riding when the Golden Jubilee Grasstrack
From Ogle to Hampton Court, grasstrack action is set for May 29
Championship Series touches down in the county of Essequibo.
The Hampton Court ground is set to host the return of competitive grasstrack racing in the county, and the event, being coordinated by Sheik Yaseen Promotions, is set to coincide with Guyana’s 50th Independence celebrations.
According to Sheik Yaseen of the promotions group, a day of exciting races is in the making, as the country’s top bikers are set to throw down the gauntlet at each other.
He said that 10 races are carded for the day, and the one day activity has so far attracted corporate support from the Trophy Stall of Bourda Market, City Mall and South Road, and Rifee Khan.
The first leg of the series was held in February at the Ogle Community Centre ground where riders gained points depending on their finish in the 10 races that were held.
Ravin Ramkumar will head into the Essequibo leg as the points’ leader, having amassed 65 points, five ahead of second place Andrew Wong. Ramkumar, a novice rider, had an impressive outing, chalking up one win and three second place finishes in the four professional races. Wong won three races and gained 60 points.
According to the points’ structure, a win equates to 20 points, second 15 points and third 10 points. Points were only awarded in the professional segment.
Other top riders of the professional category were Avo Ramkumar (two third places), Raj Rajkarran (two third and one fourth), Stephen deNobrega (two fourth, one second and one third) and Mark ‘007’ (one fourth).
There were also three novice races, one for newcomers and another for Chappy bikes.
Ravin Ramkumar made a clean sweep of the novice category, while Raj Rajkarran managed two second and a third, Avo Ramkumar one third, Daniel Hardeen three fourth, Steve deNobrega one second, and Vickash Ramkumar one third.
In the newcomer race, Hardeen took the top spot, leaving Donald Ally and Andy Rajkarran Jr to settle for second and third positions respectively.
Apart from the races, eight persons were inducted into the first-ever grasstrack Hall of Fame in recognition of their outstanding contribution to the sport of grasstrack racing as an organiser and former racer.
The inductees were Terrence Clarke, Kevin Jeffrey, Stanley Ming, Ray Rahaman, Victor Pires, Mahesh Premsukh, Mazar Mazarally and Brian McIntosh. Yaseen explained that all these former bikers were champions during their time, and are all well respected individuals in the grasstrack fraternity.
At the Essequibo leg, Shira Khan, popularly known as “Aunty Shira”, whom Yaseen said is credited with taking competitive grasstrack to Essequibo in the 90s, would be inducted into the Hall of Fame.
Other events are planned for Berbice, Enterprise and Linden, before the riders return to the Ogle Community Centre for the grand finale.
