CSRO's 2022 August CGT3/4 Round #1 Recap...

On the 7th of August, the CSRO held its inaugural Caribbean GT3/ GT4 round opener at the infamous Daytona International Speedway. The event would be the first for the CSRO in that it would be the first time they would have both classifications run simultaneously in the event. Needless to say, the event was a huge hit which saw it garner two hundred plus views in less than 12 hours of it being live streamed on their YouTube channel (linked here). Small figures for some, but for the region and SIM-Racing only now taking off, it speaks margins.

In qualifying, GT3 saw a familiar face at the top of the charts. Guyanese John Greene in the Bentley Continental GT3 was on top with a blistering 1:45.940, but following close behind by some .063 of a second was Jamaican Nathan Bryan in another Bentley clenching 1:46.003. The third position was not far off as Guyanese Oswyne Wilson in his Mercedes AMG GT3 Evo mustered up a 1:46.020 to sit some .017 of a second behind Nathan. In fourth Jamaican Kurt Moss in another Mercedes AMG GT3 Evo managed a 1:46.056 to sit some .036 behind Oswyne Wilson. Rounding up the top five was Trinidadian Dominic Charles who surprisingly only managed 1:46.210 in his Audi R8 LMS Evo to sit some .154 behind Kurt Moss.

In the GT4 Classification, we saw a latecomer to the championship, Trinidadian Declan Daniel in his Porsche 918 Cayman GT4 Clubsport posted a 1:54.380 to claim pole position. Declan was placed in GT4 as he missed out on the Qualifiers to determine which classification he would belong to for future races. Guyanese Raul Partab would come in the second position with a 1:55.443 in his Alpine A110 GT4 to sit some 1.063 seconds behind Declan Daniel proving that Declan was indeed out of Class. In the third position was Jamaican Sebastian Palmer in his Audi R8 LMS GT4 car with a 1:56.191, some .748 trailing behind Raul. In the Fourth position was Jamaican Rojaun Reid who managed a 1:56.330 in his Alpine A110 GT4 that placed him some .139 of a second behind his countryman Sebastian Palmer. And to round up the top five for GT4 was Jamaican Joshua Brady with a 1:58.270 that would set him some 1.940 seconds behind his countryman Rojaun Reid.

See the full list of qualifying for both classes below:

Qualifying Results for Round #1 of the CGT3/4 Championship

The race would prove to be a very eventful one which started staggered to separate GT3 from GT4 but nearly immediately after the rolling started shifted into full race mode we saw a full course yellow to bring it under the control of the Race Director, Stefan Gajie, once again. During the start, Jamaican's Kurt Moss and Michen Wallace along with Trinidadian Dominic Charles were three wide approaching turn one when Kurt moved from the high side of the banking to the inside line which pushed Dominic Charles off his line and, well, in his words, "...into the shadow realm.". Gt4 did not get the green as the course went full yellow and restarted the rolling start, this time in a single file.

In the second rolling start it would still prove to be tricky getting all cars through turns but this time they survived up to turn three where there was an incident involving Kurt Moss again, Christian Rajnauth, Michen Wallace and Tavar Clarke. In the GT4 Sebastian Palmer would jump into the first position after their start and he would hold on to that until Raul Partab would miss his braking point into turn ten which would push Sebastian off the racing line and into the tyre barrier. Raul would try to wait on Sebastian but Sebastian would spin again coming out of turn 11 as his tyres might have overheated.

The Bentley's proved superior at Daytona, utilising the power under their hoods on the very long bankings but only John Greene was able to utilise the power as he was offered a whole shot opportunity and never looked back. He lead the race from start to finish.

For more on the Full Race Results in both classifications and our Extended Video Highlights, see below:

Race Results for Round #1 of the CGT3/4 Championship

Extended Race Highlights for Round #1 of the CGT3/4 Championship

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CSRO's Caribbean GT3/4 Championship commences tonight...

As was mentioned in a previous article (here), the Caribbean SIM-Racing organisation will, for the first time, have the GT3 and GT4 classifications on the grid simultaneously. Tonight we go racing for the first time in the Caribbean GT3/4 Championship at the Daytona International Speedway out at Daytona Beach, Florida. The organisers have chosen to use the suitable 5.729 km Sports Car Course/ Daytona Road Course, which features 12 turns, three of which are banks ranging from 2-31 degrees. The record lap is set at 01:33.724 by Alex Palou in his Cadillac DPi-V.R in the year 2022. The facility has been open since 1959.

CSRO's Caribbean GT3/4 Round #1 Banner

During their six days free practice session, there has been some controversy as to whether the cars are well balanced utilising the CSRO's BOP (Balance of Performance) methods. At the beginning of the week, several manufacturers had their BOP reviewed and changed in a bid to have closer racing. Simulated runs were utilized in acquiring the new BOP settings and are based on one-stint runs. Officials are claiming throughout the race the dynamic will be very interestingly developed as the drivers go racing for the first time in their allotted machinery.

GT3

Speaking of drivers and their machines here are the times at the end of the six days of the free practice session; Dominic Charles out of Trinidad and Tobago piloted his Audi R8 LMS EVO to the top of the charts with a 1:45.773 even though complaining of balance issues, he said it was unlikely he could keep that pace throughout the sixty minutes of the race. Kurt Moss of Jamaica was back and setting the closest time to challenge Dominic in his Mercedes AMG GT3 EVO; 1:45.973 was the time set by Kurt as he mentioned that time being a very hard one to grab, proving that even the vets in this are having to challenge themselves. Trailing the second position is Jamaican Nathan Bryan in his Bentley Continental GT3 with a time of 1:46.127 in the third position. In the fourth position is Guyanese Oswyne Wilson also driving a Mercedes AMG GT3 EVO with a time of 1:46.678 and to round up the top five is Trinidadian Andrew Marsan in his Audi R8 LMS EVO with a time of 1:46.710. All times were based on 15:00 hours (-4UTC) press time.

GT4

In the GT4 classification, Trinidadian Declan Daniel managed to set a blistering 1:54.629 in his Porsche 718 Cayman Clubsport and has caused some talk in the paddock as to whether the Porsche is evenly balanced. It has caused the technical body within the CSRO to look into the issue. He managed to set himself above and beyond the rest, as the closest time trailing was set by Guyanese Raul Partab at 1:55.674 in his Alpine A110 GT4. Jamaican Sebastian Palmer returned to racing with us and managed third-best with 1:56.187 in his Audi R8 LMS GT4. Jamaican Rojaun Reid is back in racing form and showed out with a 1:56.611 to claim the fourth position in his Alpine A110 GT4 while his countryman Javaughn Taylor failed to set a competitive time to show but did manage the rounding fifth position with a time of 2:00.856 in his Mercedes AMG GT4. All times were based on 15:00 hours (-4UTC) press time.

CSRO's 2022 August Caribbean GT3/4 Championship is a four-round series that will last the month of August with races set for Sundays in the month commencing with a twenty minutes Qualifying Session from 7 pm (-4UTC). For more on the series view its website landing page here: CGT3/4 Landing Page. There are a total of twenty-four competitors signed up separated by the GT3 and GT4 classification boasting thirteen and eleven competitors respectively. You may view every event live from the CSRO's YouTube channel linked here: CSRO's YouTube Channel

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The 2022 August Caribbean GT3/4 Championship's Grid is Set...

The Caribbean SIM-Racing Organisation's (CSRO) 2022 August Caribbean GT3/4 Championship Qualifiers came to an end this past Saturday and the Grid has been set with a total of twenty-three competitors. As mentioned in a previous article (here), it will be the first time the CSRO team will host a mixed grid championship that will place both classifications of GT3 and GT4 competitors to compete alongside each other.

After the completion of the qualifiers, the names of the competitors were then entered into a lottery where their cars were chosen by a random automated system hosted by the staff of the organisation. Several competitors were present and all choices were deemed to be fair and agreed upon for the championship to move forward.

Paying keen attention to the times submitted by the competitors in the qualifiers, the grid was split to ascertain the competitors who will be competing within the GT3 and GT4 Categories. See the following images provided of this:

Competitors and Final Qualifier Times

Competitors in the GT3 Classification.

Competitors in the GT4 Classification.

Mikhail Charles had Qualified within the GT3 class but due to a computer malfunction, it is unlikely he will be competing. Declan Daniel failed to submit a time and as such, he will be evaluated within the practice format for him to be properly posted to a classification. Competitors are already on track and have been turning over times for the first round of the event, scheduled for this Sunday, the 7th of August at 7 pm (-4UTC) at the Daytona International Speedway. More on this in a follow-up report but for now, we are eager to go racing again and in this format, we hope you're just as eager to watch it go down live on our YouTube Channel. Don't forget to Subscribe and be sure to pop that Like button, it helps, like, seriously... really, like every video on our channel... please... thanks!

YouTube Channel Linked here: CSRO YouTube Channel.

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