Rally Ah Fear - Preysal - 21st April 2007
Photography by Gerrard Wilson, Duane Boodasingh, Ryan Ramsaran, Chris Gayadeen -
Robbie Cadiz, Narend Sooknarine and Christian Cozier
Article by: Jacqueline Alexis, PRO of TTRC

Team ULTRA wipes Trophy table clean!!

In an unprecedented moment in the history of the Trinidad & Tobago Rally Club, two team members tied for 1st place honors, overall placements and made off too, with the Team prizes!! Never before has this happened.

On April 21st, the TTRC hosted and ULTRA/STAG sponsored Rally AH-FEAR, Team ULTRA members of Barry Mckenzie/Justin Wallace and Ainsley Lochan/Scott Sheppard tied for 1st place in 4-wheel drive class in a total time of 17 minutes and 39 seconds. As if that was not a significant accomplishment in itself, they were also the Overall winners and took home the Team trophies as well. In a magnanimous gesture, both drivers presented their service squad with the Team prizes, announcing that they could not have done it without their crew’s dedication and hard work.

Rezan Mohammed and Arshad continued to show their supremacy in 2-wheel drive category, by staking 1st place in 22 minutes 35 seconds. This team has been staying consistently in either of the top two places since they started in 2005 and is the three-time winner of Rally Trinidad in their group. Mohammed has switched gears from a Mitsubishi Lancer GSR to a Mitsubishi Mirage in 2007 and the superior results are still pouring in.

Rally AH-FEAR has been an overall extraordinary experience. Firstly, there were 13 cars on the starting line - the same number as Rally Trinidad 2007; two of them were invited guests from the UK and Barbados, Harold Morley with his WRC Subaru Impreza and James Betts in his Opel Corsa respectively. Secondly, TTRC added two drivers to their fold, both of whom crossed the floor from circuit racing – Captain Keeva Seegobin and Ansel Ali. Thirdly, there was a handing over of the baton as Franklyn Seegobin, TTRC veteran and long-time member, handed over the keys of his Toyota Corolla to his son Keeva. His navigator is Kevin Mohammed, who returned to rallying for the younger Seegobin, after being absent from the co-driver’s seat since 2006. The elder Seegobin is now the team manager, a role he is enjoying immensely. Ali’s navigator was Simon Rodriguez, 2nd place winner - 2 wheel drive - of Rally Trinidad 2007. Fourthly, John Powell joined the line-up in his new Subaru.

The event started at 3:15 pm with three forward stages of the Snake Run. The planned 4th run had to be cancelled as there were casualties on the Snake. Jerome ‘Boeing 323’ Lum Hung/Rudy Ramsawak did not finish the 2nd stage; Darrel Ramesar/Anand Awai after the first run on the Snake, broke their left front shock that triggered off a domino effect of mechanical problems eventually resulting in a blown engine, and was out for the rest of the day’s event. Our rally counterpart from Barbados, James Betts, did very well in the first run with an admirable 2 minutes 50 seconds but had to pull aside on the second run and limped along the rest of the event. 

Harold Morley/Geoffrey Goddard in their WRC Prod rive WRC Subaru 2004 model, rallied through all the stages into the night but had to admit defeat on the last Preysal/Indian Trail run. Barry Mckenzie and Ainsley Lochan posted some incredible times and were very competitive even against each other, slicing and dicing the times for each stage. Vishal Dhanraj/Ian Rouse, consistent competitors, captured the 3rd prize in 4-wheel drive category in 20 minutes 40 seconds in their ESSO/Lucozade sponsored Subaru Impreza WRX. His team members – Kirk Pouchet/Krishna Rajkumar, were also very spirited on the Snake and posted some favourable times. John Powell was still learning his new car and had to leave early as he was competing in Barbados tarmac stages the following day.

James Harris and noobie navigator – Shaun Mohammed - enjoyed themselves so much that they claimed 3rd prize in 2-wheel class. Both newcomers, Keeva and Ansel, also demonstrated tremendous driving skills that eventually gave Keeva the 2nd place in his group.  34 seconds separated Ali from Harris.

The night stages ran from Preysal to Indian Trail back into the famous Zig Zag. Thousands of fans and well-wishers stood atop trailers placed in the now renowned Preysal arena-like stage and surrounded the Zig Zag circle to cheer on their favourite teams. The colours of the Club’s corporate sponsors were seen in the STAG flags and ULTRA bunting that decorated the trailers and Zig Zag circle. Spectators of all ages were evident - adults, old and young, families with young children, even babies in strollers.

The rally had extended far beyond the planned end time and the last stage was called off.   Despite the incidents, the rally was thoroughly enjoyed by all. During the service break, the Motocross crew wowed the crowd with an exhibition run on their motorcross bikes, which were on display during the rally. They ran a historic first for Trinidad & Tobago by competing in the first Dirt Oval Track Race in Trinidad and it is expected that they will run at the next TTRC event as a regular part of the program with the new and extended oval planned by the Rally Club .

The TTRC thanks ULTRA, STAG and the Ministry of Sport and Youth Affairs for their support and sponsorship, as well as Blue Mountain Water, who provided water for both the teams and Club officials. Accolades also go out to all the hard-working Marshals and Club officials, TriniTuner posse, Narend and Rawle and Black Widower Productions for their continued support.

Results

Group 3-A
1st - Barry Mckenzie/Justin Wallace -         17 minutes 39 seconds
1st -  Ainsley Lochan/ Scott Sheppard -      17 minutes 39 seconds
3rd - Vishal Dhanraj/ Ian Rouse -                20 minutes 40 seconds

Group 1-4
1st - Rezan Mohammed/ Arshad Mondro  -    22 minutes 35 seconds
2nd – Keeva Seegobin/Kevin Mohammed -     22 minutes 51 seconds
3rd – James Harris/Shaun Mohammed  -        23 minutes 37 seconds

Overall
1st - Barry Mckenzie/Justin Wallace -          17 minutes 39 seconds
1st -  Ainsley Lochan/ Scott Sheppard -       17 minutes 39 seconds
3rd - Vishal Dhanraj/ Ian Rouse -                 20 minutes 40 seconds

Winning Team – Team ULTRA : Barry Mckenzie and Ainsley Lochan

Page 1 of 7