Karting action at the Palisadoes International Raceway
The tense rivalry in the long, action-packed go-kart season climaxes this weekend with a double race meet, which gets under way tomorrow at the Palisadoes International Raceway, Kingston. The season's grand finale takes place on Sunday.
"It has been a very competitive season and, although the fields will be smaller, we are expecting some close finishes, especially in some classes where it will come down to the wire to decide the winner," said Dave Wong, president of the Jamaica Karting Association (JKA).
Among the highlights of this weekend's activities will be the clashes in the Abe Ziadie Memorial and Super Masters events, which are scheduled to run on Sunday.
Top karters
The top karters who are expected to thrill fans with their bumper-to-bumper rivalry include Joshua Sirgany, Richard Lechler, Thomas Issa and Collin Daley Jr, who were busy on the Florida circuit last weekend.
The fans are eagerly awaiting the showdown between Sirgany and Lechler in the 80 cc Class, in which Sirgany is on top of the tables on 130 points, 10 clear of Lechler, who is in second place. Their main rivals are Justin Sirgany, Marc Eaton and Senna Summerbell.
If Joshua Sirgany can reproduce the form he displayed in Florida last week, then he will be hard to beat. At the Homestead Circuit in Florida, he started second on pole in the finals of the Micro Max Class. After the first corner he slid into third place.
He then produced a late burst in a heated battle, swapping first and second place on two or three occasions, until three laps from the end he began pulling away, winning the race convincingly.
Campion College schoolboy Thomas Issa, who looks set to take the Rotax Max Championship, finished in third place at the same meet.
Matthew Williams is in line for the Rotax Junior Championship, but it promises to be a fierce battle as at the previous meet Samantha Summerbell, who was in the process of taking the chequered flag a second time for the day, was hit from behind by Daley Jr. The impact landed her in a chain-link fence.
She is coming all out again and hopes to dominate her male counterparts. Sheldon Morgan, who leads the Rotax Masters Class on 154 points, looks unbeatable.