THE NEW?engine series made its debut at the Barbados Karting Association’s Frutee Championship at the Bushy Park racing circuit on Saturday.
After over a year of testing, four drivers turned out to compete in the X30 Class on the Nassco-sponsored day which was contested in a clockwise direction.
Champion Tremaine Forde-Catwell, Aiden Fortier, Christian Hinds and Javani Smith were the four drivers contesting the class with Sean Maloney entering with his 125cc shifter kart.
Though no points were awarded, the action was still intense with three different drivers winning on the day.
Fortier was the first to get things rolling followed by Forde-Catwell and Smith.
It was evident the new engine series is faster with many of the drivers finding it tricky to turn in the karting link after accelerating down the front straight. It seems as though they have not adjusted their braking point for the increased speed and all were seen fighting to keep the kart in line.
Nicholas Gill continued his impressive performance in the 310 Class – where points were at stake – and with the migration of his main rivals into the new class he was having things much his own way.
He won three of the four races but on the final race he spun and had too much to make upafter recovering.
The final race was won by Alex Kirton, who had been third throughout the day.
Gill went on to win the day with 93 points and make it his third consecutive victory in the season. Second was Kyle Proverbs with 84 points and third was Kirton with 79. Kareem Atkins finished fourth, while Owen Yarde was plagued by mechanical issues throughout the day.
In the 270 Sportsman Class, Joshua Maloney just managed to edge out Zane Maloney by one point. Joshua finished with 85 while Zane collected 84.
Joshua Parris finished third with 60 points and was unfortunate not to get more. He was leading the third race comfortably but his chain broke as he was going through the karting link, ending his race.
Saviola Thomas finished fourth with 56 points, while Calvin Bartlett was fifth and Krystal Kirton sixth. (PR/EZS)
