T&T Daniel Ramoutarsingh in CAC Championship in Costa Rica
28th November 2007
Articles and Photography supplied by TRINRICO

The FIA NACAM Central American Championship Heats 3 & 4 were held at Autodrome la Guacima, Costa Rica, on November 18th.

It was the second event of three, from the first Heats 1 & 2 held in Guatemala on October 28th. December 9th is when Heats 5 & 6 will be held in la Guacima, Costa Rica, where the 2007 GT-1 Championship will end with the title of Regional GT-1 Champion awarded.

Trinidad and Tobago Champion Pilot Daniel Ramoutarsingh and his Trinrico Racing Team were tied for 3rd place in Heat 1 & 2 in Guatemala, and attended the Costa Rica event in the hopes to advance their position. The team consisted once again of Crew Chief Quinn Conda, Tony Gentilozzi, John Smyth, Craig Young, Joachim Brandt, and Michael Harries.

Twenty (20) of the best GT-1 teams in the region attended, making it the largest Regional Motor Sport championship for many years. The competitiveness of the teams and challenge of the course made it the largest attended event in the region boasting approximately 20,000 spectators and live television coverage in participating countries.

The event was scheduled as Two (2) x Forty (40) minute Heats. The six (6) tire rule applied for the qualifying session and warm up, including both Heats 3 & 4 held on Sunday.

The length of the races and characteristics of la Guacima resulted in the Trinrico Racing Team selecting a harder compound tire to ensure endurance under strenuous race conditions. Trinidad & Tobago’s Daniel Ramoutarsingh was listed as a favorite and likely contender for the championship by the regional media and enthusiast.

The Trinrico Racing Team were given very little test time, as the race contact with a competitor in Guatemala made repair and service of the RS 28 Jaguar time consuming. Only on the limited official test schedule of Friday were the team afforded real test time before the qualifications on Saturday were held. The first session was lost due to a component failure caused by the previous event’s contact, but the team made the most of what they could from the remaining 2 x thirty (30) minute practice sessions.

The hard compound tire required an entirely different set up than the previous events and the # 18 Trinrico Racing Jaguar XKR qualified in 8th place out of the twenty (20) entries. Cromwell Cuestas made contact with the Jaguar of Ramoutarsingh in the qualifying session, leading up to the tension of the first heat. The top competitors were within a gap of fractions of a second, proving how competitive the race would be. Local championship points leader Javier Queros and his Toyota Supra ran off in qualifying for turn 1, and was repaired for the heat the following day with the assistance of the Trinrico Racing Team’s John ‘Big Bear’ Smyth of Rocketsports.

In race one (Heat 3) Ramoutarsingh fought his way up to 3rd position but a tire failure resulted in the team losing position at the very end of the race by competitors he previously passed such as Jorge ‘Koki’ Trejos in his Porsche 996 and Diego Cuestas’ Mazda RX 8.

The team made chassis adjustment and used the two remaining permitted tires to enter the second heat of the day with the intention to secure a podium position in the championship. Ramoutarsingh was clearly more focused as he piloted RS 28 through the grid and fought his way to the front of the pack by the end of Heat # 4.

Daniel Ramoutarsingh and his team were able to secure the 3rd position in the overall championship and are only a few points away from the first and second position leaders, Cromwell Cuestas’ Volvo S 80 and Carlos Zaid C5 Corvette, both of Guatemala nationality. Many of the local Costa Rican favorites are out of the championship podium, for the time being

The next event for the Central American Championship is scheduled for December 9th, la Guacima Circuit, Costa Rica. It will be 2 heats of forty five (45) minutes each, with the six (6) tire regulation in effect. Several new extra regional participants will be competing. It is expected to be one of the largest and most competitive events in the history of the series.

The official CAC standings as follows:

Trinrico Racing is to make a final stand to secure the CAC Championship on December 9th, where the team comes together once more in the hopes to secure victory against all odds.

The entire Trinrico Racing team’s best wishes go out to Daria Young in the hopes that she has a full recovery very soon.

A very sincere thank you goes out to the kind sponsors of Trinrico Racing:
Trinrico Steel and Wire Products ltd.
The Trinidad & Tobago Ministry of Sport and Youth Affairs
Castrol Lubricants / Tracmac Engineering
Grupo Los Tres - Centro America