5th AutoSport Drag Racing - 28th April 2002
Article by Rawle Mahbir
Photography by Rawle Francis, Duane Boodasingh and Narend Sooknarine

On an incredible day of extreme weather conditions, AutoSport Promotions again maintained the high standards they have set in the execution of another truly exciting Event in Motorsport arena.

And combining the sounds of roaring engines with the ear shattering installations from some of the best audiophiles in music land, the thousands of spectators were treated to a combination that truly brought out the sounds of music for all those with a true appreciation of the outdoor life.

Even the unseasonal cloud-bursts that have been experienced in what is supposed to be our dry-weather season did not deter the supporters

The attraction of the Music buffs saw some of the top cars showing off their wares to a truly appreciative crowd. Autosport will be developing this .phpect of Motor sport displays in subsequent events to an even bigger degree in future Events.

On the drag Racing scene, with the absence of two of the top guns on race day due to some compelling reasons, the open class category saw the return of the very popular ‘Richie Rich” with his M&M Insurance sponsored Mitsubishi Magna coming up against the vastly improved Michael Douglas with his Team Pressure Xtreme V8 Rail.

Riche has shown that he has lost none of his fire in psyching up his opponents at the start line. But Douglas was cool in his staging process and it was Richie who jumped the start earning a red light. Douglas was eventually able to grab the Class-win, the award for the fastest car of the day, and in the process pushed the envelope with a new record for top speed through the quarter mile. His speed of 165.45 mph is the second fastest ever recorded by a local driver at Waller Field.

Hero Boodram made a victorious return to the track with possibly one of the largest Turbos attached to a motor-racing engine. He ensured that Ken ‘Green Day” Gokool did not get too comfortable as a winner in the 10 seconds class. Missing in action were Daryan Warner, Jason Laing and Kent Jacob but all have assured that they will be back at the next Event in June.

The 12 seconds class saw relative newcomer Riad Hosein piloting his Turbo Rotary to first place over the very consistent Brian Franco with team mate Larry Ragoobar in third place.

But Paul Chung again displayed his racing craft, and even when he was trailing his opponent, he was still able to extract a win. How is this possible? Well Paul just piled on the pressure at the end and was able to force Christian Tam with his Subaru WRX to break the limit for the 13 seconds cars. With this win Paul has now climbed to the top and be the points leader across the board.

The 14 Seconds class has thrown up three different winners for the year with Jesse Maitland driving his Turbo Lancer to his second victory over Rennie Tokhai, and Gerald Aboud settling for the third place.

With his second consecutive victory in the very competitive 15 seconds Class, Dion Welch is well on his way to establishing a good reputation on the Drag racing strip with his eye catching Honda Civic. But Arjune Sookhan with three seconds and one third, leads the bracket by 40 points over Gerard Pegus.

The 16 seconds Class saw another first-timer in the person of Doodnath Sookram with his 120Y Wagon, emerge victorious over Nizam Mohammed and Marlon Benjamin, both piloting the popular Turbo Starlets.