Rugie Misir, president, Jamaica Karting Association (JKA), was more than content with his organisation’s hosting of the 2023 Caribbean Junior Karting Academy Trophy (CJKAT) at the Palisadoes International Raceway in Kingston.

The event ran from Wednesday, July 19 to Sunday, July 23 and saw three days of exciting racing at the karting circuit.

“This is a milestone event as there has not been a proper international event with this level of FIA [Federation Internationale de l’Automobile] participation in Jamaica for as long as I can remember. We’ve had a few internationals before, but nothing with the importance as to justify the vice-president of the FIA present to witness the 2023 Caribbean Junior Karting Academy Trophy. So, we’re glad that we’ve earned the recognition and the value in the sight of the world governing body to see it fit to come to Jamaica and endorse our event,” Misir told the Jamaica Observer‘s weekly Auto magazine.

CJKAT was devised to help increase the quality and knowledge of the young karters in the participating countries; this year, Jamaica, Barbados and Trinidad & Tobago.

“The overall benefit is for the entire Caribbean and participating countries. It’s one thing to come out and race against the four, five, or six racers month after month after going to school with them, and practising with them weekend after weekend, so there’s no real novelty involved in the chess game that is the racing. However, introduce the foreigners and everyone’s game steps up,” said Misir.

And that it did, as across the three days, between the three nations and 13 drivers, it all came down to an exciting finale that saw the eventual event winner decided on the last corner and a margin of just eight-hundredths of a second.

Thirteen year-old Trinidadian Naomi Garcia and Jamaican Zander Williams had been in a see-saw battle for the duration of CJKAT. Garcia taking the early points lead on day one of competition, with Williams moving to the top of the leader board on the second day. Garcia would eventually win by 11 points on the third day.

“I was very happy with the win. There were a lot of ups and downs, but I came out strong in the end,” said Garcia.

For Williams his second-place finish was a sign of progress in his CJKAT participation, having secured third last year when the event took place in Barbados.

“The first day wasn’t as good as it should have been. I was quite unlucky having a DQ in the final. The second day it was actually really good. I did as best as I could. I won all the races. And coming to the final day I was just trying to be confident. Unfortunately, things didn’t go my way. Just happy with my performance over the weekend,” said Williams.

Jamaican Matthew Warmington completed the podium position with Trinidadian Aran Sharma and Jamaican Edward Upstone rounding out the top five finishers.

Misir revealed that the JKA would be hosting another similar international event later in the year.