TTRC Rally - Preysal Maze - 29th September 2007
Photography by Bruce Anton, Candace Bhagirath, Duane Boodasingh, Devi Nath & Gerrard Wilson.
Article courtesy Barry McKenzie, TTRC executive.
Team Ultra wins Speed Stages Rally
Ainsley Lochan with Codriver Scott Sheppard won the Preysal Rally held on 29th Sept to the cheers of the huge crowd gathered till late Saturday night to witness the Rallycars in action.
Amazingly Preysal was dry as a whistle when compared to the distant Northern Range, which was blanketed in rain clouds and thunder and lightning that could be heard and seen from the central area.
The Preysal Extravaganza got off to a late start as the officials made haste to resurface the Roadways which were painstakingly groomed earlier in the week leading up to this event.
Mother Nature had soaked the Preysal Couva area proper and our Stages were now mud bogs in some areas. Saturday morning bought us some rays of sunshine and this continued throughout the day to allow the officials some cleanup of the stage just prior to the start of the event, hence the late start.
As promised, the Preysal Couva Site looked like a properly prepared Race course, thanks to the kind assistance of Batchasingh Quarry Limited who provided fill material free of charge to the TTRC .
Corners were reshaped and new roadways cleared and graded to give our crews some fantastic turns around the Scenic Preysal River. The One Oot Water Splash had to be bypassed as one of the competitors whilst pace noting the stage, got stuck in the cradle of the splash up to his bonnet in a 4X4 !!!!!
 The starting format was reversed for this event with the FWD Cars taking to the Stage first. Simon Rodriguez with Codriver Seán Hinds took the initial mud dive and survived to pave a part through the mud for all to follow. Rezan Mohammed and Co Driver Arshad Mundro in the Vigourade Mivec Turbo would again lead this pack after the first stage followed by Roger Mckenzie and Max Jallai in the Castrol/ Rallymac Corolla RunX.
James Harris guided by new Codriver Steve Tarouba in the Sunny B13 would tie with the team of Ansel Ali/ Robert Cadiz (Tropical Power Mazda ) for third spot.
Darrel Ramesar with another new Codriver Adam Archer would not be as fortunate as they had to be towed to the service park after breaking an Axle.
The Stage, after the Front wheel cars were through, deteriorated considerably and the 4WD cars finished the cultivation of the roads with Barry Mckenzie and veteran Co driver Justin Wallace in the ULTRA/Rallymac EVO6 leading the pack after stage one. He was followed by Ainsley Lochan and pilot (oops) Codriver Scott Sheppard in the ULTRA/ Stag/ Josef’s EVO6 in second .Kirk Pouchet with temp Codriver and fellow Driver/Team member Vishal Dhanraj guiding the Lucozade EVO7 home was in third position.
At the evening break as darkness befell, the Preysal Superspecial, the Spectators and Teams were treated to an exciting first for the TTRC and definitely a firm fixture for all night event – a 40 ft Projection Screen courtesy Outdoor Entertainment Co, with sight and sound of Rallycars playing continuously throughout the night. Rallies from Barbados, Jamaica and Trinidad highlighted the strength of Speed Stage Rallying in the Caribbean. Definitely a sign that the sport is back with a vengeance and is now the Future of Motorsport in the Caribbean.
As is now the norm at TTRC rallies, the Barbecue pits were in evidence adding to the multitude of Flavors going airborne in Preysal Speed stages.
 Anil “Spork” Roberts - our MC for the Event, kept the Spirit alive after a long day of Competition with his beautiful Trini commentary to round off a very tough day for the competitors.
Lochan and Sheppard in the Ultra/Stag/ Josef’s EVO6 would Triumph in the tough conditions to win Class and overall spots followed by B. Mckenzie and Wallace in their Ultra /Rallymac Evo6. Lum Hung and Ramsawak in the Royal Purple Mazda 323 got the third slot.
The Vigourade team of Mohammed and Mondro made a sensational comeback after breaking on stage two to take first position from R. Mckenzie and Jallai in the Castrol/ Rallymac Corolla. Ramesar and Archer savored a hard fight to stay in third position.
The Terrain on Saturday saw every competitor having some form of difficulty which saw the lead in each category change hands many times over, a most challenging route which will be repaired and prepped for the club’s final event of the Year on the 20th October.
Results
4WD
1st - Ainsely Lochan/Scott Sheppard - 19 minutes and 17 seconds
2nd - Barry Mckenzie/Justin Wallace - 19 minutes and 32 seconds
3rd - Jerome Lum Hung/Rudy Ramsawak - 20 minutes and 14 seconds
2WD
1st - Rezan Mohammed/Arshad Mondro - 22 minutes and 2 seconds
2nd place - Roger Mckenzie/Max Jallai -22 minutes 11 seconds
3rd place - Darrel Ramesar/Adam Archer -22 minutes 27 seconds
Page 1 of 6
|
