So
the promised smashing of records did take place at AutoSport’s
Drag Racing Event at the AutoDrome this past weekend.
Whilst everyone was looking for a record shattering run
from Sheldon Bissessar, his immaculately prepared PSTL
Chevron Party Time Rail still commands that wee bit more
fine tuning before he betters his local 4 year old 7.391
Secs. @ 182.93 mph seconds mark. But it’s just a
matter of time, since, with a very late start out of the
lights, and some correcting on the steering, he still
clocked a relaxed 8.6 seconds but posted the fastest Speed
of 171 mph, for the year, while actually backing off before
the finish line. With Feraz Akaloo’s Sheik Lisha
Camaro not yet back from Antigua, Riccardo Pustam returned
to winners row and also copped the Fastest–Car-Of-The-Day
Award. Gaining a podium finish in second spot was Gordon
Rooks with his Busta Tweety 2 V8 Laurel. Michael Luke
had to settle for third when he smoked the tyres at the
start and never regained proper traction. The consensus
among the knowledgeable is that this driver will be a
force to be reckoned with before the year is out.
But
the proliferation of tumbled records came, not from the
expected Open Class gladiators, but the select group who
battled each other in the 10 Seconds Bracket. With only
one entry this weekend in the 11 seconds Bracket, Prentice
Ali commandeered his brother’s Mitsubishi Evo 4
and painstakingly battled his way to victory in the 10-Seconds
Class. In the process he also copped the Fastest 4-cylinder-Car
Award, and for bragging rights can now lay claim to driving
and tuning the Fastest Mitsubishi Evolution ever, in local
Competition. Shaun Ready again lowered his previous Record
for the fastest Rotary-Engined car breaking into the rarefied
9-Seconds Bracket, clocking 9.980 seconds at 135.95 mph.
But the trauma some drivers inflict upon themselves to
gain that satisfying victory is unbelievable. Whilst breaking
the record, he also broke his gearbox. He immediately
retrieved the required replacement parts from his home,
stripped and rebuilt the gearbox on the track, and continued
in competition even though selecting fourth gear proved
impossible at times. Jason Laing still fighting with suspension
problems took third place but he also joined that select
group of just 6 other drivers since 1996 to have registered
a perfect 0.500 seconds Reaction Time.
The
12 seconds Bracket saw Paul Chung regaining the top spot
and increasing his points lead even further when his closest
rival Brian Franco defaulted with mechanical problems.
Franco’s teammate Larry Ragoobar clinched second
place and also won the coveted Fastest-6-Cylinder Award.
Richard Gardner won third place.
Alvin
Pillai finally broke through his reliability jinx and
blew away the competition in the 13 Seconds Bracket. Going
in the opposite direction to tradition, he dumped the
rotary engine from his RX7 and installed a 3000cc straight
6 Nissan 280C engine. Running a similar engine, Renny
Tokai could only hold on to second place and Farouk Mohammed
gained third place.
In
a very competitive 14 seconds battle, Yazeed Ali finally
scored maximum points when he won from Chester Lewis driving
his Datsun 120Y Turbo 2000 and the very popular Zamir
Ali with his Turbo Cressida.
The
see-saw battle between Gerard Pegus and Arjune Sookhan
continues to develop with Pegus gaining the win this time
around, Sookhan settling for second spot and Erica Jobity-Dinnoo
finally getting back amongst the competition points.
The
man behind the most successful Team in 2002 and heading
in the same direction this year, Sharaz “Laro”
Mohammed jumped into the fray for this Event and immediately
showed that he also is talented as a driver when he won
the 16-seconds Bracket. After seeing all the Starlets
run in Antigua for Easter, Nizam Mohammed seemed to have
picked up some ideas and drove his own Turbo Starlet to
second place knocking the previously unbeaten Fadak “Flash”
Ghany into the third spot.
