Sean Maloney takes over regional SR3 Cup lead

Former Champion Sean Maloney of Barbados has assumed the lead of the Radical Caribbean SR3 Cup (RCC), following a dramatic day of changing fortunes in round two at Bushy Park Barbados on Monday (June 10). He shared the race wins with brother Stuart, the reigning RCC Champion, and Trinidad & Tobago’s Kristian Boodoosingh, while two more podium finishes for Jamaica’s Williams Myers keep the title fight wide open, which just a 13-point difference from first to fourth.

Once again, the 21-year-old double Jamaica Race Drivers Club MP2 Champion was quick straight out of the box, fastest in both Free Practice sessions; even had he repeated his lap time from session two, however – his best so far at Bushy Park, of 58.098s – he would still have lost out in the battle for Pole Position to Sean Maloney, whose 58.616s was more than six-tenths clear. Just under half a second covered the next five, Myers ahead of Stuart and Mark Maloney, then the T&T pair of Luke Bhola and Boodoosingh, with Jamaica’s Horatio Brown seventh.

Starting from the southern grid, pole man Maloney powered downhill into the ‘W’s to take the lead in the first 15-lapper; the day’s first drama came early on lap two, when Mark Maloney lunged up the inside of Boodoosingh in his signature move into the ‘W’s, but contact resulted in both spinning, Maloney losing just one place, restarting in fifth, but Boodoosingh dropping to the back of the field. A few laps from home, Stuart found a way past brother Sean, to win by three-tenths, with Myers just another half-second off.

After the briefest of rain showers, Brown and Boodoosingh sat on the front row of the reversed grid for the second race, Bhola and Mark Maloney on row two, then Stuart Maloney, Myers and Sean Maloney. When the lights went out, Brown did not move, the rest powering past him left and right, Boodoosingh the first into the ‘W’s, with everyone else fighting for second place up over Mill Brow and down to the inner hairpin. Myers emerged ahead, leading Mark Maloney at the end of the lap, although his brother Stuart usurped him early on lap two, the black SR3 then slipping into the clutches of Sean Maloney, the two cars battling for fourth in close formation; for much of the race, only three seconds or so covered the top five, although the gaps extended when Mark Maloney suddenly slowed, resulting in Sean backing off briefly, which split up the field. As Maloney cruised back to the pits, retiring with a faulty oil pressure sensor, Boodoosingh was never headed, leading Myers and Stuart Maloney home, this season’s first podium to be shared by the three nations, Barbados, Jamaica and T&T.

Based on points scored in the first two races, Stuart Maloney and Myers were on the front row for the day’s final encounter, with Boodoosingh and Sean Maloney on row two, Bhola, Brown and format points leader Mark Maloney at the back. Sean Maloney claimed the upper hand at The Dipper on the opening lap, while brother Stuart retired a few corners later with a broken gear drive unit and smoke pouring from the rear bodywork. Myers gave chase, the times tumbling as he and the two remaining Maloneys swapped fastest laps; although he stopped on Mill Brow with a broken ground wire block four laps from home, Myers had completed 75 per cent of the race distance, so was still classified (but in sixth place), handing Boodoosingh and Mark Maloney the final podium places. Fourth and fifth for Bhola and Brown matched their best SR3 Cup results to date.

Radical Caribbean SR3 Cup, round 2
Bushy Park Barbados (June 10)
Qualifying:
Pole - Sean Maloney (BAR) - Bushy Park Barbados Radical SR3 RS, + 58.616s, 122.443kmh/76.08mph
2nd - William Myers (JAM) - KFC Radical SR3 RS, + 0.601s
3rd - Stuart Maloney (BAR) - Bushy Park Barbados Radical SR3 RS, + 0.644s
4th - Mark Maloney (BAR) - Rock Hard Cement/Bushy Park Barbados Radical SR3 RS, + 0.790s
5th Luke Bhola (T&T) - Bholas Marketing/Fast Parts/Torco Race Fuels/Richtune/Garage 61/TechPoint Tuning Radical SR3 RS, + 0.923s
6th - Kristian Boodoosingh (T&T) - CR Boodoosingh & Sons Ltd/Fast Parts/Torco Race Fuels/Richtune/Garage 61/TechPoint Tuning Radical SR3 RS, + 1.051s
7th - Horatio Brown (JAM) - Fast Parts/Torco Race Fuels/Car Boutique/Redline Oils/ Richtune/Bhola's Marketing Radical SR3 RS, + 2.021s

Race 1 (15 laps): 1st Stuart Maloney, 16m 27.490s; 2nd Sean Maloney, + 0.376s; 3rd Myers, + 0.890s; 4th Bhola, + 9.377s; 5th M Maloney, + 25.240s; 6th Boodoosingh, 25.298s; 7th Brown, + 52.527s. Fastest lap: Sean Maloney, 58.930s, 122.790kmh/76.23mph Race 2 (15 laps): 1st Boodoosingh, 15m 07.597s; 2nd Myers, + 0.410s; 3rd Stuart Maloney, + 3.692s; 4th Sean Maloney, + 4.059s; 5th Bhola, + 14.651s; 6th Brown, + 22.890. DNF: M Maloney. Fastest lap: Stuart Maloney, 59.109s, 122.418kmh/75.07mph Race 3 (15 laps): 1st Sean Maloney, 15m 53.363s; 2nd Boodoosingh, + 0.285s; 3rd M Maloney, + 2.371s; 4th Bhola, + 3.809s; 5th Brown, + 21.056s; 6th Myers, + 4 laps. DNF: Stuart Maloney. Fastest lap: Boodoosingh, 58.975s, 122.696kmh/76.24mph

Points after round 2: 1st Sean Maloney 100 points; 2nd M Maloney 93pts; 3rd Myers 89pts; 4th Stuart Maloney 87pts; 5th Bhola 64pts; 6th Boodoosingh 57pts; 7th Brown 50pts

Qualifying rounds: Apr 29, Bushy Park Barbados (BPMSI); Jun 10, Bushy Park Barbados (BPMSI); Aug 31/Sep 1, Bushy Park Barbados (BPMSI); Nov 9/10, South Dakota, Guyana (GMR&SC)

For media information only. No regulatory value

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