Mallalieu edges ahead in Caribbean Junior Karting series

Reigning Barbados 125cc Champion Adam Mallalieu has edged into a narrow lead in the inaugural Caribbean Junior Karting Academy Trophy (CJKAT) after rounds three and four at Bushy Park Barbados over the weekend (February 2/3). Leader after the first two rounds, Calem Maloney maintained his advantage on Saturday, with two race wins, but Mallalieu won three of Sunday’s four races to move into a two-point lead – 300 to 298 - ahead of the final two rounds next month.

One again, Tommi Gore was the only other race-winner, while his fellow Jamaicans Ryan Chisholm and Zander Williams both showed consistent form; three podium finishes each day helped Chisholm consolidate his third place in the standings with 211 points, while Williams finished second in one race each day and never dropped below fifth, to ease into fourth with 187 points, one ahead of Gore. Rayden Persaud remains highest-placed of Guyana’s karters, now seventh on 126 points, and also posted his country’s best individual performances, with two fifth places.

The weekend’s action moved from the 1.2-kilometre CIK Circuit to the slightly-shorter 1.14kms Western Circuit, with an increase in laps to 10 (from eight, for Races 1 to 3) and 15 (from 12, for the Final). While 14-year-old Mallalieu topped the time sheets in both Free Practice sessions for Round 3, Maloney (12) claimed Pole Position from his arch-rival, albeit by just eight-hundredths of a second. Chisholm and Gore, both 13, sat on row two, ahead of Persaud (12) and 14-year-old Barbadian Kayleigh Catwell, the last within 1sec of the Pole time and with her highest CJKAT qualifying result so far.

After taking the lead from Maloney early in Race 1, Mallalieu eased away to win by 2secs, Chisholm also moving up two laps later, leaving Maloney third at the finish; Gore was fourth throughout, ahead of Williams, while Guyana’s Nathan Rahaman (11) finished sixth. After an incident on the second lap of the reversed-grid Race 2 eliminated Rahaman, Mallalieu and Chisholm (he earned a grid penalty for the next race for causing the incident), Gore took the lead from compatriot Williams, going on to win by 1.4secs, while Maloney made up a fistful of places to finish third. Catwell equalled her best race result in fourth, with Persaud fifth and local driver Adam Marshall (14) sixth. In Race 3, Maloney led throughout from Mallalieu, while Chisholm made up four places to finish third, ahead of Williams and Gore, with Marshall claiming another sixth place.

The 15-lap Final, with 30 points for a win, 24 for second place, was all about Maloney and Mallalieu, these two again battling wheel-to-wheel; Maloney led for 12 laps, Mallalieu snatching the lead on lap 13, but Maloney retook it a lap later to win by one quarter of a second. Chisholm, Williams and Gore looked set to complete the top five, before Persaud demoted Gore to sixth on the final lap.

In a repeat of the previous day, Mallalieu was fastest in Sunday’s Free Practice sessions, but Maloney would start from Pole, 0.15secs ahead, with Gore third and Catwell clocking up another best Qualifying result in fourth. Chisholm and Marshal were on row three, Persaud and Williams completing the eight within 1sec of Pole.

While Maloney made the best of his Pole Position to lead early on, Mallalieu was past Gore on the opening lap, these three then rarely separated by more than a few inches; Mallalieu got ahead at half-distance, just six-tenths covering the three combatants across the line in the closest podium finish of the weekend. Chisholm remained fourth throughout, Williams and Marshall completing the top six.

Fast-starters Williams and Chisholm held sway early in Race 2 from the reversed grid, but Mallalieu dealt with both on lap six to lead them home by just over 1sec, with Gore, Maloney and Marshall completing the top six. In Race 3, Mallalieu was looking for his third race win of the day, but Maloney had other ideas; having demoted Gore from second place on lap three, he shadowed Mallalieu until he found a way past on the very last lap, just 1/100th of a second separating them at the flag. Given a 10-second penalty for a bumper infringement, Gore was demoted to eighth, Chisholm picking up the final podium slot, ahead of Williams, Marshall and Catwell.

Having been denied victory in Race 3, a determined Mallalieu led the 15-lap Final from the off, while Maloney scrapped first with Williams, then with Chisholm and Gore, the Jamaican trio determined to make their mark. Mallalieu crossed the line 3.6secs ahead of Chisholm – the weekend’s biggest margin of victory - with Gore in close formation; Maloney finished fourth, ahead of Williams and Persaud.

Sponsored by Bushy Park Circuit Inc (BPCI), Chefette, Sol and Terra Caribbean, CJKAT is modelled on the CIK-FIA Karting Academy Trophy, which has been the first rung on the ladder of the Federation Internationale de l’Automobile’s (FIA) single-seater path to F1 since 2010; it is supported by the FIA’s Sport Grant Programme. The Grand Prize for the Champion is a fully-paid entry and X30 Junior kart for one Sunshine State Karting Challenge (SSKC weekend) in Florida, valued at more than US$3,000.

Caribbean Junior Karting Academy Trophy, round 3 (February 2)

Qualifying: Pole - Calem Maloney (BAR), 43.436s; 2nd Adam Mallalieu (BAR), + 0.080s; 3rd Ryan Chisholm (JAM), + 0.405s; 4th Tommi Gore (JAM), + 0.482s; 5th Rayden Persaud (GUY), + 0.708s; 6th Kayleigh Catwell (BAR), + 0.992s; 7th Nathan Rahaman (GUY), + 1.087s; 8th Zander Williams (JAM), + 1.220s; 9th Jeremy TenPow (GUY), + 1.624s; 10th Paige Mendonca (GUY), + 1.639s. DNF Adam Marshall (BAR); DQ Zachary Persaud (GUY)

Race 1 (8 laps): 1st Mallalieu, 5m 49.433s; 2nd Chisholm, + 2.126s; 3rd Maloney, + 2.483s; 4th Gore, + 3.955s; 5th Williams, + 6.006s; 6th, N Rahaman, + 14.237s; 7th, R Persaud, + 14.732s; 8th Catwell, + 14.995s; 9th Z Persaud, + 17.326s; 10th Marshall, + 26.231s; 11th TenPow, + 2 laps; DNF Mendonca Fastest lap: Mallalieu, 43.342s, 94.331kmh/58.61mph

Race 2 (10 laps): 1st Gore, 7m 37.262s; 2nd Williams, + 1.429s; 3rd Maloney, + 2.984s; 4th Catwell, + 13.261s; 5th, R Persaud, + 15.638s; 6th Marshall, + 16.018s; 7th TenPow, + 18.334s; 8th Z Persaud, + 18.939s; 9th Mendonca, + 3 laps; DNF N Rahaman, Mallalieu, Chisholm Fastest lap: Maloney, 43.033s, 95.008kmh/59.04mph

Race 3 (10 laps): 1st Maloney, 7m 10.816s; 2nd Mallalieu, + 1.689s; 3rd Chisholm, + 5.836s; 4th Williams, + 6.120s; 5th Gore, + 6.389s; 6th Marshall, + 10.579s; 7th Catwell, + 11.023s; 8th, R Persaud, + 11.933s; 9th N Rahaman, + 15.015s; 10th Z Persaud, + 19.223s; DNF TenPow, Mendonca Fastest lap: Mallallieu, 42.826s, 95.467kmh/59.32mph

Final (15 laps): 1st Maloney, 10m 43.229s; 2nd Mallalieu, + 0.224s; 3rd Chisholm, + 7.824s; 4th Williams, + 9.944s; 5th, R Persaud, + 13.389s; 6th Gore, +13.782s; 7th Marshall, + 16.024s; 8th N Rahaman, + 21.778s; 9th Z Persaud, + 33.282s; 10th TenPow, + 36.144s; 11th Mendonca, + 43.874s; DNF Catwell Fastest lap: Maloney, 42.662s, 95.834kmh/59.55mph

Caribbean Junior Karting Academy Trophy, round 4 (February 3)

Qualifying: Pole - Calem Maloney (BAR), 42.418s; 2nd Adam Mallalieu (BAR), + 0.152s; 3rd Tommi Gore (JAM), + 0.469s; 4th Kayleigh Catwell (BAR), + 0.680s; 5th Ryan Chisholm (JAM), + 0.695s; 6th Adam Marshall (BAR), + 0.728s; 7th Rayden Persaud (GUY), + 0.802s; 8th Zander Williams (JAM), + 0.817s; 9th Nathan Rahaman (GUY), + 1.334s; 10th Zachary Persaud (GUY), + 1.340s; 11th Paige Mendonca (GUY), + 1.661s; 12th Jeremy TenPow (GUY), + 2.090s

Race 1 (10 laps): 1st Mallalieu, 7m 09.554s; 2nd Maloney, + 0.452s; 3rd Gore, + 0.634s; 4th Chisholm, + 1.296s; 5th Williams, + 3.755s; 6th Marshall, + 7.553s; 7th Catwell, + 11.179s; 8th, N Rahaman, + 17.116s; 9th Mendonca, + 18.382s; 10th R Persaud, + 1 lap; 11th Z Persaud, + 1 lap; DNF TenPow. Fastest lap: Mallalieu, 42.463s, 96.283kmh/59.83mph

Race 2 (10 laps): 1st Mallalieu, 7m 12.820s; 2nd Williams, + 1.370s; 3rd Chisholm, + 1.417s; 4th Gore, + 2.638s; 5th Maloney, + 3.678s; 6th Marshall, + 5.701s; 7th Catwell, + 5.830s; 8th R Persaud, + 9.795s; 9th N Rahaman, + 11.514s; 10th Z Persaud, + 11.835s; 11th Mendonca, + 15.454s; 12th TenPow, + 1 lap Fastest lap: Mallalieu, 42.488s, 96.227kmh/59.79mph

Race 3 (10 laps): 1st Maloney, 8m 11.343s; 2nd Mallalieu, + 0.098s; 3rd Chisholm, + 1.430s; 4th Williams, + 4.041s; 5th Marshall, + 7.351s; 6th Catwell, + 7.976s; 7th R Persaud, + 9.365s; 8th Gore, + 11.204s; 9th Mendonca, + 18.269s; 10th Z Persaud, + 21.769s; 11th TenPow, 21.969s; DNF N Rahaman Fastest lap: Maloney, 42.355s, 96.529kmh/59.98mph

Final (15 laps): 1st Mallalieu, 10m 38.828s; 2nd Chisholm, + 3.685s; 3rd Gore, + 3.835s; 4th Maloney, + 4.973s; 5th Williams, + 9.455s; 6th R Persaud, + 13.395s; 7th Catwell, + 13.581s; 8th TenPow, + 22.138s; 9th Z Persaud, + 24.242s; 10th N Rahaman, + 34.011s; 11th Marshall, + 40.578s; DNF Mendonca Fastest lap: Mallalieu, 42.228s, 96.819kmh/60.16mph

Provisional points after four rounds: 1st Adam Mallalieu (BAR), 300 points; 2nd Calem Maloney (BAR), 298pts; 3rd Ryan Chisholm (JAM), 211pts; 4th Zander Williams (JAM), 187pts; 5th Tommi Gore (JAM), 186pts; 6th Adam Marshall (BAR), 133pts; 7th Rayden Persaud (GUY), 126pts; 8th Kayleigh Catwell (BAR), 125pts; equal 9th Nathan Rahaman (GUY), & Jeremy TenPow (GUY), 92pts; 11th Zachary Persaud (GUY), 72pts; 12th Paige Mendonca (GUY), 62pts; 13th Elan Rahaman (GUY), 53pts; 14th Colin Bradshaw (BAR), 35pts Remaining dates: Rounds 5 & 6, Mar 2/3, Bushy Park Barbados

For media information only. No regulatory value.

For further information
Web site: www.cjkat.com
BMF President, Andrew Mallalieu: e-mail: andrew.mallalieu@terracaribbean.com