Rally 'Roller Coaster' II - Chaguanas - 1st September 2007
Photography by Bruce Anton, Candace Bhagirath, Devi Nath, Ryan Pinhiero & Gerrard Wilson.
Article by Barry "One Oot" McKenzie.

John Powell wins in Chaguanas
The ULTRA / Moorings & Launch sponsored Subaru of John Powell with temp Codriver Mark Williams once again dominated the Speed Stages Rally held on the 1st September when once again the Rally Club revisited the Chaguanas Borough to host the much touted Rally Roller Coaster II. Undaunted by the Independence Day tropical depression alert, Competitors and Spectators made their way to the Beautiful Woodlands just behind TAP and ABEL Block Factory for the start of the event.

Cars were seeded as per their finishing order from the last event held at the same location which put the Subaru up on the line first, John Powell set the pace with a blistering 2 min 34 sec and this set the benchmark for the other 4WD cars to achieve, both of the ULTRA sponsored Evolution 6 posted identical times of 2 min 36 sec and were in the zone to challenge the Subaru.

Rezan Mohammed and Arshad Mundro’s  Mivec  sporting their new Vigourade Sponsor logos was the first 2WD car on the start and they posted a time of 3 min 04 sec to lead the other 2WD competitors of Ansel Ali / Robert Cadiz Tropical Power sponsored Mazda 323 and Roger Mckenzie / Max Jallai in the Castrol / Rallymac Motors Toyota RunX.

The great Teamwork of Rezan and Arshad continued in 2wd class, making this their 4th consecutive  win for the year. They have clinched the 2007 championship for their new sponsor – Vigourade, with just 2 more rallies remaining. This is their most outstanding achievement and it leaves to speculation whether Mohammed will aspire to 4WD. Will he surprise the 4WD teams and move up to their class?

Roller Coaster TWO saw the return of Captain Jerome Lum Hung / Rudy Ramsawak in the Flying Bench / Royal Purple Mazda 323 to competition and with a flawless day they sat comfortably behind the leader waiting for some of the top guys to slip and they could possibly slide into a podium finish.

Ainsley Lochan Ultra Evo 6  lost ground to the Subaru of John Powell when he clipped the inside bump on turn 3 and treated the spectators to a view of the underside of the EVO almost rolling the Rallycar in the process. Luckily his experience saved the day for this team.

Roger Mckenzie’s Castrol Toyota was not as lucky and Mckenzie/Jallai rolled and all four wheels were in the air at turn 5 just 300 yards from the finish. The crew was OK, however, due to the stringent Rallyclub rules,  they were not allowed to re enter the rally due to a broken windshield.

Barry Mckenzie and Justin Wallace in the ULTRA / Rallymac  EVO 6 also had their share of problems when they broke the right front suspension on the first jump of the stage. A hasty repair saw this team back in the foray albeit not at 100% but still in the rally.

After some refreshing Curry Duck and Cassava at the lunch break it looked like  a thru race to the finish in the 4WD class …but the ULTRA Subaru of John Powell was too much for the EVO’s and the much anticipated fight now boiled down to bragging rights for Fastest stage time with Barry McKenzie’s EVO 6 and John Powell’s Subaru  swapping best time for the rest of the afternoon. Roller Coaster now has a 2 min 30 sec record courtesy of the ULTRA / Rallymac EVO 6  with John Powell posting a 2 min 31 sec to continue the strong rivalry between these two teammates.

The Lucozade team of Kirk Pouchet/ Krishna Raj Kumar in the EVO 7 made their mark by finally finishing an event trouble free. This team is now ready to pose some serious competition in the 4WD class, unfortunately luck was not with their Lucozade teammates of Vishal Dhanraj/ Richard Ramsingh in the Subaru WRX when they suffered overheating problems and had to retire from the rally.

John Powell has now chalked up 2 wins for the season and is heading to Barbados to compete in the Barbados Rallyclub Tarmac event on 15th September. He will be driving his WRC Toyota Corolla, which placed second in the BRC International Tarmac event held in May, the biggest Rally in the Caribbean. Mark Higgins the RAC rally champion from England will be driving John Powell’s Subaru on that weekend.

Results

4WD

1st. John Powell / Mark William ULTRA Subaru - 15 min 19 sec
2nd Barry Mckenzie / Justin Wallace ULTRA EVO 6 - 15 min 33 sec
3rd Ainsley Lochan / Scott Sheppard ULTRA EVO 6 - 15 min 51 sec

2WD

1st Rezan Mohammed / Arshad Mundro Vigourade Mivec - 17 min 46 sec
2nd Ansel Ali / Robert Cadiz Tropical Power Mazda 323 - 20 min 12 sec

Overall Winners

1st. John Powell / Mark William ULTRA Subaru - 15 min 19 sec
2nd Barry Mckenzie / Justin Wallace ULTRA EVO 6 - 15 min 33 sec
3rd Ainsley Lochan / Scott Sheppard ULTRA EVO 6 - 15 min 51 sec

Best Team

Team ULTRA (Barry Mckenzie / Justin Wallace and Ainsley Lochan / Scott Sheppard

The Rally Caravan returns to its adopted home grounds at Gran Couva Preysal for the Final two Rallies for the Season.

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