Having trailed the leaders (Cleon Melville and Kennard Lovell who were part of 9 riders given a 1 minute handicap) for most of the race, Persaud dug deep into his reserve tank to overtake the tired leading duo on the final lap to register a memorable win as set a new record of One Hour 16 Minutes 57 Seconds erasing the more than a decade old standard of One Hour 19 Minutes set by Jude Bentley.
Melville (1 prime) and Kennard who captured 6 of the 8 prime prizes were too tired to challenge Persaud who caught them with about 400 meters to the final line on a cool Saturday afternoon. Melville took the second place followed by the veteran Lovell who did well having earlier won the Under-50 veteran event.
Physically Challenged rider Walter Grant-Stuart, who lost his entire right hand following an accident, was not able to repeat his winning performance of two Saturday’s ago when he won the NSC feature 35-lapper but still did well to take the 4th place, once again proving that disability is no barrier to success.
With just over three laps to go, Grant-Stuart was about 300 meters away from connecting to Persaud but was unable to connect.
Mark Lewis settled for the 5th place with Enzo Matthews, who will represent Guyana at the upcoming XIX Commonwealth Games in Delhi India, closing out the top 6 positions. Matthews suffered two punctures during the race but still rebounded to place in the top six.
Marlon ‘Fishy’ Williams competed but suffered some mechanical problems with is machine just after the race started and was never able to challenge for a top place but said he was pleased to compete as it is good practice ahead of the Commonwealth Games.
Guyana’s other two representatives for the Games Alonzo Greaves and Geron Williams did not compete. Twenty-eight (28) riders faced starter’s orders in the feature race.
Following are the results of the other races, 1st to 3rd:
12-14 (3 laps) Akeem Arthur, Delius Richardson, Michael Anthony
Veterans U-50 (5laps) Kennard Lovell, Virgil Jones, Andrew Spencer
Veterans O-50 (5 laps) Kirkwood Kellman, Monty Parris, Maurice Fagundes
Juveniles (10 laps) Kurt La Rose, Marlon King, Delius Richardson
Upright (5 laps) Nigel Jacobs, Richard Charles, Ozia Mc Caullay
BMX 6-9 (2 laps) Keon Harris, Devoy Benjamin, Jamal Arthur
BMX 9-12 (3 laps) Randy Haynes, Adrian Sharma, Earl Ramkumar
BMX 12-14 (3 laps) Shaquel Agard, Antonio De Rushe, Sylvan Lewis
BMX Open (3 laps) Raymond Chase, George Berkley, Randy Haynes
Vibert Gordon, Warehouse Supervisor of DeSinco Trading was on hand to assist in the distribution of trophies and prizes.
By Franklin Wilson