Drivers ready for 2023 Caribbean Junior Karting contest

Thirteen karters aged 12 to 17 from Barbados, Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago will contest the third Caribbean Junior Karting Academy Trophy (CJKAT) this weekend at the Palisadoes International Raceway in Jamaica.

The competition is being hosted for the first time by the Jamaica Karting Association (JKA), which will also be staging rounds four and five of its annual championship on the same programme.

Funded by the Federation Internationale de l’Automobile’s (FIA) Sport Grant Programme and administered by the Barbados Motoring Federation (BMF), CJKAT will again be contested by a quality field this year, which includes a number of past and present champions.

The format will be the same on each of the three days of racing, with practice and qualifying sessions followed by three 10-kilometre races and a 15-kilometre final.

Jamaica’s Zander Williams is the most successful of the eight drivers returning to the competition. He finished fifth in 2019, then third last year when he claimed one pole position and won four races including the Friday and Saturday finals.

Fellow JKA members Luke Spencer and Matthew Warmington finished seventh and 10th respectively last year.

The three drivers from T&T include Naomi Jade Garcia, who was the highest-placed racer aged 14 and under last year, finishing fifth overall.

Barbados’ contingent is headed by Daniel Ullyett, the BKA’s champion driver in 2020 and 2021, who finished 11th last year.

Participants will race identical Vortex-engined Exprit OK-Junior karts, creating a level playing field so results are based on driver talent. This is an individual driver competition, not a contest between the nations, but there are certainly inter-territory rivalries.

CJKAT is modelled on the CIK-FIA Karting Academy Trophy, which has been the first rung on the ladder of the FIA’s single-seater path to F1 since 2010, previous winners including current Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc, who won in 2011 at age 12.

To allow more opportunities for Caribbean hopefuls to race, the regional series caters for a wider age range than in Europe, where the limits are 12 to 14 years old. (PR)

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