The team of Owen DeCosta and Jason DeCouto came out on top in a battle of endurance in the inaugural Southside 250 Dash for Cash at Bermuda Motorsports Park at Clearwater, St David’s.

The pair won the two-hour oval endurance race, the first of its kind at the east end racetrack, in the LO 206 4-stroke engine class and pocketed $2,800 in prize money.

“It was an awesome time had by all and it was even better to stand on the top podium spot,” an elated DeCosta told The Royal Gazette. “We had a lot of fun and drafting was amazing to experience.

“It was a lot of fun to race wide-open throttle for two hours and in the draft with other karts. This is an event we will never forget.

“On behalf of myself and Jason I would like to say thank you to the Bermuda Karting Association and special thanks to organisers Jeff Sousa and Rick Vesely for making this event an awesome experience.

“Also special thanks to team principal, Chris Smith, for letting us drive the kart for the event and mechanic John Carreiro Jr. Last but not least, we want to say thank you to all that participated.“

Stephen Corrado and Jason “Skuzzie” North finished runner-up to earn $1,700 in prize money.

“It was a pleasure to participate in the inaugural Southside 250 and finish on the podium for our first time around with Stephen Corrado,” North said. “We had an absolute great time and it seems that everybody who participated had a great time so it was definitely a pleasure.

“We didn’t have the greatest race but ran pretty much near the front most of the two hours and just fell short of winning the event in our first time. Congratulations to Owen and Jason for winning the first one. Awesome job by them and their team.

“A huge shoutout to the committee that put this on, especially Jeff Sousa and Rick Vesely for being the front-runners on pushing this event.

“We’ve tried endurance races before and this one here I believe is going to be a success into the future and I would like to see it continue. This was a real success for the association and I think it can only get bigger and better from here.”

Ryan Rebello and Robert Wheatley finished third to complete the podium finishers and pocket $700 for their combined efforts.

“The race was challenging but with Ryan pulling some strong laps, and some major assistance from our mechanic Paul Rice, I was happy with our third place on the podium,” Wheatley said.

“Congrats to Owen and Jason on winning and Skuzzie and Stephen for their second-place finish.

“On behalf of myself and Ryan, I’d like to thank the Bermuda Karting Association and organisers, Jeff Sousa and Rick Vesely, for delivering on a great event.

“The inaugural endurance race provided opportunity for some fun and competitive driving in a format we’ve not typically raced here before. I’m looking forward to bigger and better things next year.”