Canadian superbiker Kevin Graham has eyes set on top spot

By Ravendra Madholall

A confident superbike stalwart, Kevin Graham is ready to star on Sunday at the Dover Park Race track in Jamaica as the 2013 Caribbean Motor Racing Championships roll off.
The Canadian once again will be representing Guyana in this category and feels this season opener should be exciting on his Kawasaki 600cc Bike when the action gets cracking from 08:30hrs.
Graham has been riding for Guyana for the past three decades and this year wouldn’t be any different for the veteran as he is set to team up with another Caribbean star, Stephen “Valentino Rossi” Vieira, and the experienced, Carlos Maurice.
Guyana was dethroned by Jamaica last year when the penultimate and final legs took place at Bushy Park, Barbados and Guyana respectively, but Graham is optimistic the guys in all the categories will rebound on this occasion.
“I think we [are] ready to hit the track in both the bike and car categories; I have been preparing here over the past several weeks and the bike is ‘revving’ nicely…so I am ready to make another impression against the boys down there,” Graham divulged.
He has been a phenomenal rider and has won a number of trophies both locally and internationally. His participation for Guyana has been a tremendous success too having dominated the track for countless seasons.
This time, Graham is determined to ride away from his competitors on Sunday. The second leg will be held in Barbados in September before the final showdown in Guyana early November.
“We have a good bunch of great riders; Stephen (Vieira) is an outstanding rider and once we get the necessary support from the other bikers, I think we will start off things on a perfect note; the bike got its final tune up last week and already shipped down to Jamaica,” Graham related.
Quizzed on any particular challenge he is likely to face in Jamaica, Graham stated that he is quite familiar with the track but the competition from the host country and Barbados can be stiff.
“I raced a lot of time in Jamaica and I know the circuit very well; it is a wonderful place to race and be a competitor; but I know the guys especially the Jamaicans would want to come out and display their skills but I am very confident we have the true riders to be victorious,” he said.
Team Guyana will be led by the veterans Andrew King, Mark Vieira and Kevin Jeffrey in the Group Four category, while the Jamaicans will be banking their hopes high on the superb David Summerbell in his Mitsubishi Evolution and Barbados can rely heavily on Roger Mayers with his Ford.