AutoSport Promotions Championship Prize Giving - December 2000

Photography by Duane Boodasingh and Rawle Francis
Captions by Gordon Rooks

AutoSport Promotions held their annual Championship Awards for 2000 at Kam Po Restaurant in Chaguanas just before the Christmas long weekend. The event was well attended with many regulars coveting Championship awards along with some new faces to drag racing.
Prizes were awarded in the following categories:

16 Seconds Bracket Spons. by F.T.Farfan - Erica Dinnoo Jobity
Whilst she does not look so, Erica has been participating in Motor sport since 1985, winning many individual events. In 1999, Erica won the Circuit Racing CVCC Ladies Championship, won the two Drag Racing Events she contested and was the Rally Club's Female Witco Nominee. And was one of the pillars of the Castrol Rally Team which won the Champion team title for 3 consecutive years. Was year 2000 the best for Erica? Apart from clinching the Championship title in our 16 Secs. Bracket, Erica also enjoyed tremendous success in the other disciplines of Motor Sport, having been awarded the title of female Circuit Racing Rookie of the year Champion, and in Rallying, Championship Driver for year 2000, Big Boyz Toys High Speed Stages Champion and is the Rally Club's Witco Nominee for Sports Woman of the year for the second consecutive year.

15 Seconds Bracket Spons. by Diamond Motors - Gregory John
5th in '98 and then 2nd in 1999 in the 16 seconds class, Gregory is one of those drivers affected by his staggered working hours. Undaunted, he makes every attempt to compete once time permits. And so keen was he in battling for his championship title, that when he could not race, he ensured his car was in competition. Whilst this did not earn him any points, it ensured that the others did not get full benefits from his abscence - Maybe a case of points padding?

14 Seconds Bracket Spon. by Car Boutique - Oswald Stoute
Stoute as he is affecionately called, racing since 1990, is a truly committed Rotary buff who started racing in the 16 secs. class and gradually moved to the faster classes over the years. In 1999 he placeda close 2nd in the 13 seconds Class. But I was just saying that he gradually moved up in Class over the years. How keen is this competitor? He was the only driver to consistently race two cars in two very competitive brackets , the other being in 12 seconds where he finished third in the points race.

13 Seconds Bracket Spons. by Solder Seal Gunk - Michael Paul Chung
Started Racing with a Ford Escort in 1978 and was a consistent winner in the 16 and 15 seconds Brackets. He took a break in between 1992 and 1994 and then came out with his Kingswood with V8 power 1n 1996. Immediately, he became the 13 Seconds Champion in 1997 and 1998, in which yearhe was also awarded Points Champion 1998, Paul moved up to the 12 Seconds Class in 1999 and started having fun experimenting with his Ford-powered Kingswood V8 that went through several mutations before crossing the threshold to full cyborg! Paul fought doggedly and earned all the additional points available to guarantee a run for the top spot.
This he secured at the final Event when he needed to be placed not lower than second, and did exactly that!

12 Seconds Bracket Spons. by Car Accessories Ltd. - Gary Smith
3rd in1998 in the 14 Secs. class. For 1999 he set out on a mission to dominate, earning every point possible and best reaction time on two occasions. He secured 6 1st, 2 2nds.
For 2000, with a more powerful engine, he moved up in class first to the 13 secs. bracket, where he was such an an easy winner,he made the bold step into the 12 seconds class where he found the going very tough, Gary could only manage 2nd place finishes in May, June and again in July, and then in Oct.- nothing. Finally in Dec. he regianed his winning ways, but with his consitency througout the year, he was able to clinch the championship in the 12 seconds bracket.
Gary wishes to express his special thanks to his major sponsor, Marcel Carrington and SuperTune.

11 Seconds Bracket Spons. by SHELL T'dad Ltd. - Shameel Mohammed
Our Sheriff in Drag Racing has been in competition since 1989, and undoubtedly has been one of the more successful competitors over the years, coppping some 21 1st. place finishes, and 6 in the 2nd spot. With this came 4 Champion Driver of the year awards, three of these being consecutive between 1995 and 1997. For year 2000, Shameel was involved in a see-saw battle with his arch rival Ken Gokool with both of these drivers earning identical points and even our tie-braking rule of 1st place finishes, still could not seperate them. And in the final shootout, the Sheriff was the faster to the draw. Next year is even going to more challenging with the likes of Kent Jacob and Ken Gokool breathing down his back, unless he has some surprises up his holster.

Open Bracket Spons. by Texaco (T'dad) Ltd. - Gordon Rooks
Relatively new to Drag Racing, appearing at the final Event of 1997, Gordon won the 12 seconds bracket in 1998. In January 1999 he started on his Tweety Two Project but continued to Race with Tweety One up until June when he had 3 first places. With Tweety Two finally fine tuned in August '99, he moved into the 9 seconds Class and promptly won the next three Events, and then "went foreign" to Puerto Rico where he qualified 2nd out of 80 Cars in his class before breaking out- "going too fast" and was thus eliminated. For 2000, Gordon has copped the fastest car of the day on four occasions and the Open class Title on 3 occasions, earning enough points to be clearly ahead of his closest rival and guaranteed the title of Champion in the Open class since our Oct. 15th Event.

Fastest Bike in T&T 2000 Spons. by L. A. Blues - Anthony Fairley
10.884secs @ 116.88mph
Anthony has been participating in Drag Racing for the past 15 years and in this period he has won numerous races. However in recent years he has been more committed, and modified his road bike to a full scale drag racing machine dedicated fully to Drag Racing on the track. This is starting to pay dividends since he ran unbeaten in year 2000, and we expect to see greater challenges next year from the likes of his good friend and former champion Mikey Rambally

Fastest 6 Cyl. Spon. by Neal & Massy - Brian Franco
June 25th > 11.836secs @ 110.83mph
April 30th > 12.136secs @ 112.49mph
Brian stated his racing career in 94 with a "dare" from a friend. His commitment has seen him win the championship award for the 14-17 classes in '96. In '97 he clinched the 14 secs. award, in '99 he was 2nd in the 12 secs. Year 2000 was one of experimentation, and whilst in competition his results were chequered, he achieved the incredible feat of having won the title of fastest 6 cylinder in every single event for year 2000.

Fastest Rotary Engine Spons. by CARIBEL - Ravi Badal
April 30th > 11.757secs @ 118.73mph
Relatively new to Drag Racing, Ravi first competed in the 15 seconds bracket in 1997, and has gradually moved up in class. A committed Rotary fanatic, Ravi has earned several podium finshes during this time and still boasts of having possibly one of the fastest street cars around. This car is not towed or trailered, but is driven to the track on Race day. No mean feat for one that clocks 11.757 secs. with a top speed of 118.73 mph.

Fastest 4 Cylinder Spons. By Pen Ray Perf. Products - Ryan Garcia
October 15th > 8.928secs @ 152.54mph
                         > 8.938secs @ 159.57mph
Held fastest 4-cyl. record at the end of 1998 with a time of 10.00 secs. at 127.68 mph.
For 1999, he proceeded to chip away at this mark and on three seperate occasions lowered it until he reached 8.98 secs. at a speed of 141.24.?? For Year 2000, together with his dedicated team, the mission was very clear, and the light at the end of the tunnel was in direct focus.
He came, he worked hard and he conquered for the third consecutive year.

Points Champion 2000 Sponsored by Castrol - Shameel Mohammed Paul Chung - Ken Gokool
It is very clear that the competition in Drag Racing is extremely keen. After 6 events, here we have three competitors tied on 980 points. We catered for seperating ties in the various brackets, we never thought in our wildest dreams that this was possible, so come next year we have some more clauses to write into our regulations. This is the second occasion that Paul Chung will have his name on the trophy, but for Shamo and Ken "Green Day " Gokool, we are positive that they will be seeking to gain this coveted trophy all by themselves in the coming years.

Fastest Car in T&T 2000 Sponsored by STAG - Ryan Garcia
October 15th > 8.928secs @ 152.54mph
                         > 8.938secs @ 159.57mph
It was very clear that this team had their sights on destroying certain fundamental formulas,
the most basic being 4 into 8. They were bent on pushing the envelope beyond the limit, but the envelope kept bending parts, the going was tough but they were never ones to give up.

Best time for 2000- 8.928 secs. Best speed for 2000- 159.57 mph.
Apart from Sheldon Bissessar and Vijay Ramkissoon, and Colin Ablack, Ryan with his little 4 Cyl. is at this point the fourth fastest driver ever in T&T. We are advised that not many 4 Cyl. cars in the western hemisphere have crossed this threshold. In the end they achieved finally winning the coveted title of fastest car of the day.
Ryan also achieved the rare feat of copping a fastest reaction time award with the perferct time of 0 .500 secs. - only two other drivers have scored this exacting time since 1995.
The icing on the cake was fastest car in T&T for year 2000.
Having achieved all of the above Ryan and his team is now heading to Miami to compete in the extremely popular battle of the imports. Our best wishes are with them in this ambitious venture.

A table full of Trophies	Colin Ablack receiving his Trophy from Rawle Mahabir
Ricardo Pustam receiving his 1st place Trophy for the December 3rd event	Sheriff's father receiving his Trophy from Erica Dinnoo Jobity
Erica Dinnoo Jobity displaying her 16 second Championship Trophy	Gregory John receiving his 15 second Championship Trophy from Peter Morris
Paul Chung receiving his 13 second Championship Trophy from Trevor Fong	Gary Smith receiving his 12 second Championship Trophy
Gary Smith of Team Supertune displaying his 12 second Championship Trophy.	Gordon Rooks of Team Supertune displaying his Open Class Championship Trophy
Ken Gokool receiving his points Championship Trophy from Ramesh Bhola	Paul Chung, Shameel Mohammed & Ken Gokool "A 3 way tie in the points Championship"
Anthony Fairley receiving his "Fastest Bike" Trophy from Gordon Rooks	Ravi Badal with his Trophy for Fastest Rotarys
Brian Franco with his Trophy for undisputed Fastest 6 cylinder in T & T	Ronald Dosramos receiving the 1st place Trophy for the October 15th event for Team SKF from Freddie Jumans
Ryan Garcia receiving his Trophy for Fastest Car in 2000	David Andrews chief mechanic for team SKF saying a few words
Brendon Garcia being presented with a special appreciation award from his crew	Barry McKenzie with his appreciation award from Auto Sport
Bashir Kajim receiving his appreciation award from Peter Morris on behalf of Auto Sport	Kerry Maharaj receiving his appreciation award from Peter Morris on behalf of Auto Sport
Rawle Mahabir doing his "Year in Review" at the podium	Ramesh Bhola with his appreciation award from Auto Sport