The rainy weather didn’t do much to dampen the action at the season opener for the Jamaica Karting Association (JKA), on Sunday, April 24, at the Palisadoes International Raceway in Kingston.

“There were some teething pains, but overall it went very well. A good start with good racing,” Neil Williams, vice-president, JKA, told the Jamaica Observer’s weekly Auto magazine.

As all motorsports fans know, a wet track breeds uncertainty and there was plenty as the drivers in each class had to come to terms with the changing grip levels around the circuit. With a focus this year on getting young drivers into karting, the beginner Comer 50 and Rotax Micro Max classes were sizeable versus previous years.

“There is a programme run by Ian Donaldson at the track to help new drivers,” explained Williams.

More than half the field was represented by the two classes.

While the Comer 50 and Rotax Micro Max karts aren’t fast enough to really be upset by the wet conditions, driver skill was still important to keeping a kart on the straight and narrow. Dylan Smith and Nathan Sutherland were the top names in Comer 50. Smith was the fastest qualifier and took the reverse grid race final win after a host of second place finishes to Sutherland. Two wins meant Sutherland was the points leader at the end of the day. In Rotax Micro Max, there was pretty much one name: Brandon Shor. Shor swept the class from start to finish, including an inspired drive last to first in the reverse grid final, where he started at the back due to winning the previous final.

In Rotax Junior, there were only three racers, but it remained competitive throughout with Zander Williams eventually securing the point advantage over Luke Spencer after winning both the class final and reverse grid final race. The battle for Rotax Senior honours wasn’t as clear-cut as it seemed. The older drivers pushed the limits of their karts and often suffered the penalty of a lack of traction constantly leaving the victor anyone’s guess even at the last laps. Zachery Lee was the eventual points leader over Brandon Finzi-Smith; however, Sean Jackson continually interjected himself into the proceedings racing hard on the risk versus reward theory.