Sirgany does well

Eight-year-old Justin Sirgany sprung a major surprise last weekend when he secured Jamaica's only podium finish at the United States' Rotax Grand National Championship held at the Newcastle Speedway, Indianapolis.

The small-framed karter finished third in the highly-competitive Micro Max Class. His cousin, Joshua, one of the favourites to take the chequered flag, missed out on the opportunity.

Reports are, at one point, both Sirganys took charge of the race and were occupying first and second place.  In other events, the more experienced karters such as Colin Daley Jr, William Myers and Thomas Issa did not make the frame in their respective classes.

"We regard this as one of the major achievements for the Jamaica Karting Association on the international circuit," said President Peter Rae, who accompanied the racers.

Despite the outcome, Rae believes it was a great learning experience, not only for the young karters, but for the Jamaican contingent.

Significant achievement

"I believe it is a significant achievement for the karters. The third-place finish by Sirgany (Justin) just demonstrates the level of consistency by the Jamaicans on the Florida circuit. I am sure the foreigners are taking notes and realise the Jamaicans are a team to be reckoned with," said Errol Anderson, president of the Jamaica Millennium Motoring Club.

Meanwhile, celebration was still in the air for young Sirgany and family who were in the US up to Thursday afternoon.

"This is a great feeling, we put in a lot of hard work, it was expensive. But while we are happy, we are also disappointed as we expected his cousin, Joshua, to have finished in the top three too," said Justin's father, Steve. He stressed that Jamaica did well as a team.

- Glenroy Sinclair