Zane Maloney of Barbados is the early leader of the 2020 Radical Caribbean Cup (RCC), following a hat-trick of race wins in yesterday’s (March 15) opening round at Bushy Park Barbados. On his way to building up a 26-point lead over 2018 regional Champion Stuart Maloney in the five-round series, he also set new Qualifying and Race Records, improving on times set more than two years ago.
 After two Free Practice sessions, Qualifying began without Trinidad & Tobago’s Zachary Boodram, whose car had developed engine problems which left him on the sidelines for the day. Mark Maloney was the first to complete a flying lap of 61.780s before 16-year-old Zane punched in the first sub-60s lap, then chipped away as the 10-minute session ran its course, breaking the Qualifying Record for a third time with an eventual 57.660s, more than half-a-second better than the previous mark set by his father Sean in 2018.
 T&T’s Kristian Boodoosingh, who finished third in the 2019 RCC, was at the sharp end throughout, improving on his previous personal best by six-tenths to line up second, nine-tenths behind Maloney. Brothers Stuart and Mark Maloney occupied the second row, with the returning Suleman Esuf fifth quickest, ahead of Boodoosingh’s T&T team-mate Luke Bhola, another to improve on his PB, by three-tenths. Hampered by a down-on-power engine, Sean Maloney was seventh, with England’s Brian Caudwell eighth and the grid completed by newcomer Raymond Seebarran of Guyana.
 Starting from the southern grid, Boodoosingh made a better start than pole man Maloney, taking the lead downhill into the ‘W’s, and retaining it for two laps, until an electrical fault caused his retirement in a similar fashion to his demise in last year’s opening round. As the teenager eased away for a winning margin of 7.8secs, Stuart and Mark Maloney battled race-long, completing the podium in that order, while Esuf and Sean Maloney also tussled in close formation, until a brave challenge at the ‘W’s saw Maloney spin and run on to the grass, while Esuf carried on to finish fourth. Caudwell was fifth, not a points-scorer under the Cup’s invited driver regulations, while Bhola and Seebarran finished sixth and seventh collecting the first points towards the new Nations Cup for T&T and Guyana respectively. Zane Maloney was the first driver to benefit from the additional point for fastest lap with a new Race Record of 58.068s, five-hundredths better than Mark Maloney’s September 2017 mark and also a new Outright Lap Record for the 2.01-kilometre International circuit.
 Caudwell and Sean Maloney sat on the front row of the reversed grid for the second race, Bhola and Esuf on row two, with Mark and Stuart Maloney on row three; at the back were Zane Maloney and Boodoosingh, having taken over Fast Parts team-mate Seebarran’s car for the rest of the day. Caudwell made a confident start, holding the lead for six laps, until he was swamped by those behind, only to the retire mid-way round lap seven, Zane Maloney assuming the lead. It lasted only three laps, however, before his uncle Mark squeezed past at the ‘W’s, running nose-to-tail until Zane snatched the lead back at the Esses on the final lap, Mark adding another fastest lap to bring his record to 23.
 Based on points scored in the first two races, Zane and Mark Maloney were on the front row for the day’s final encounter. Stuart Maloney and Esuf sat on row two, Sean Maloney and Bhola on row three, with Boodoosingh and Caudwell at the back. Another good start from the pole-sitter saw him take the lead, which he held for four laps until passed by Mark; his advantage didn’t last long, however, Stuart taking the lead just before half-distance in a big shuffle, which also benefitted Boodoosingh, who had made good progress from the back of the grid to slot in to fourth behind Esuf. Two laps from home, Esuf’s car switched in to safe mode, so he dropped back and in to retirement, promoting Boodoosingh to third behind Zane Maloney, who had taken the lead from his uncle Stuart on the last lap.

Radical Caribbean Cup, round 1
Bushy Park Barbados (March 15)
Qualifying:
Pole - Zane Maloney - BAR (Suzuki/Bushy Park Barbados/Rock Hard Cement/Sol Radical SR3 RS), 57.660s, 125.494kmh/77.98mph (Qualifying Record)
2nd - Kristian Boodoosingh - T&T (CR Boodoosingh & Sons/Fast Parts/Torco Race Fuels/Richtune/Garage 61/TechPoint Tuning Radical SR3 RSX), + 0.962s
3rd - Stuart Maloney - BAR (Bushy Park Barbados Radical SR3 RS), + 1.204s
4th - Mark Maloney - BAR (Rock Hard Cement/Bushy Park Barbados Radical SR3 RS), + 1.351s
5th Suleman Esuf - BAR (Express Imports Inc/Prosales/Y Esuf Auto Clinic Radical SR3 RSX), + 1.363s
6th - Luke Bhola - T&T (Bholas Marketing/Fast Parts/Torco Race Fuels/Richtune/Garage 61/TechPoint Tuning Radical SR3 RS), + 1.469s
7th - Sean Maloney - BAR (Bushy Park Barbados Radical SR3 RS), + 1.512s
8th - Brian Caudwell - ENG (Radical SR3 RS), + 1.808s
9th - Raymond Seebarran - GUY (Fast Parts/Garage 61/CR Boodoosingh & Sons/Richtune/Techpoint Tuning/Bhola's Marketing/Adon/HB4 Tuning/Shaz Automotive/Ray's One Stop Auto Parts Radical SR3 RS), + 3.133s
DNQ - Zachary Boodram - T&T (Shell Ultra Lubricants/FT Farfan/DHL Trinidad Radical SR3 RSX)

Race 1 (15 laps): 1st Z Maloney, 15m 32.676s; 2nd Stuart Maloney, + 7.838s; 3rd M Maloney, + 8.475s; 4th Esuf, + 18.420s; 5th Caudwell, + 26.620s; 6th Bhola, 36.108s; 7th Seebarran, + 37.376s; 8th Sean Maloney, + 1 lap. DNF: Boodoosingh. DNS: Boodram Fastest lap: Z Maloney, 58.068s, 124.613kmh/77.43mph (Record) Race 2 (15 laps): Z Maloney, 16m 08.695s; 2nd M Maloney, + 0.810s; 3rd Stuart Maloney, + 5.585s; 4th Sean Maloney, + 6.219s; 5th Boodoosingh, + 8.360s; 6th Bhola, + 9.337s; 7th Esuf, + 11.751s. DNF: Caudwell. Fastest lap: M Maloney, 58.506s, 123.680kmh/76.85mph Race 3 (15 laps): 1st Z Maloney, 15m 34.978s; 2nd Stuart Maloney, + 0.198s; 3rd Boodoosingh, + 8.143s; 4th M Maloney, + 8.526s; 5th Sean Maloney, + 11.705s; 6th Caudwell, + 15.607s. DNF: Esuf, Bhola. Fastest lap: Z Maloney, 58.166s, 124.403kmh/77.30mph
Driver points after round 1: 1st Z Maloney 77 points; 2nd Stuart Maloney 51pts; 3rd M Maloney 46pts; 4th Sean Maloney 28pts; 5th Esuf 26pts; 6th Boodoosingh 25pts; 7th Bhola 18pts; 8th Seebarran 8pts
Nations Cup points after round 1: 1st Barbados 75 points; 2nd Trinidad & Tobago 36pts; 4th Guyana 15pts

Qualifying rounds: Mar 15, Bushy Park Barbados (BPMSI); Jun 28, Frankie Boodram International Raceway, Wallerfield, Trinidad (TTASA); July 19, Frankie Boodram International Raceway, Wallerfield, Trinidad (TTASA); Aug 29/30, Bushy Park Barbados (BPMSI); Nov 7/8, South Dakota, Guyana (GMR&SC)