A NEAR 33-year-old track record which was held by Jim Fuller of Antigua was shattered last weekend during qualifying at the South Dakota Racing Circuit in Guyana, when the Guyana Motor Racing Sports and Club staged their second event for the 2008 racing season.

Andrew King, the man whom many believe to be the best racing driver in the country, stopped the clock at 35.078 seconds in his tube frame Mazda RX7 to establish a new all-time lap record at the popular South Dakota Circuit.

In the process he also dethroned Mark Vieira who up to then was the reigning saloon car record holder with a time of 35.62 seconds. Fuller's time of 35.4 seconds was set in November 1973 in a Brabham BT 38, a single seater car with full Formula 2 specifications.

King went on to stamp his authority by winning the first and final event of the Group 3 and Group 4 merged races. Kevin Jeffrey behind the wheel of the former Jamaican Doug Gore-owned Evolution VIII, won the second race convincingly.

Jeffrey who drove brilliantly throughout the day was unfortunate not to have taken the final race after leading from the start.

On the final lap Jeffrey was ahead of King going into the gooseneck in the final lap when a slight collision between the two resulted in his car going off into the sand pit and with it his chance of taking his second consecutive victory.

Mark Vieira who many were expecting to continue his dominance at the South Dakota circuit had a miserable day. In the first Group 4 race, both King and Jeffrey got the better of Vieira who after three laps limped down the straight, passed the pit entrance and parked his car on the circuit after it had developed a mechanical problem.

In their second encounter Vieira again was unable to finish his race after four or five laps after trailing both Jeffrey and King. This time he did the correct thing by exiting the circuit by the run-off route coming down the straight. In the meantime Jeffrey, having won the second Group 4 race in spectacular fashion ahead of King, led from the start until the final lap when he had his problems. Vieira was able to hold on for second place behind Andrew King. (CH)