22ND ANNUAL RALLYE MADININA
    - 7TH Annual Hyundai Rallye - 4th & 5th June 2000

By Nebert Marin
Photography by Nebert Marin

Trinituner traveled to Fort De France, Martinique to support the lone Rally team from Trinidad & Tobago, Peter Morris & Barry Mc Kenzie in their Lancer Evolution.

The rally was held on the 4th & 5th June 2000. We arrived on the 3rd June together with Mc Kenzie's wife and brother and Morris' wife and daughter. On arrival in Martinique the first order of business was to get a local newspaper and a map.

Wouldn't you know it, the Trinidad entrants were front-page news. Team T&T remained on the front pages of every newspaper for the entire weekend. In fact, Team T&T instantly established celebrity status and were interviewed by several newspaper, radio and television journalists.

Everyone was eager to see what T&T could do. Morris & Mc Kenzie were the first foreign team to rally in Martinique in eight years and the first team that the local Mitsubishi Dealer has sponsored in ten years.
[Photo: Mc Kenzie, Morris & Mitsubishi Dealer]

Our first day was spent driving through a couple of the stages to gauge the best spots and to get our bearings around the island. The map was easy enough to follow. One of the first things that you notice as a driver besides the fact that they drive on the right hand side of the road is that their roads are excellent without a single pothole. We drove around with the President of their Rally Club as he was inspecting a stage. During the drive he stopped, jumped out of the car and took a can of white spray paint and sprayed a circle on the road. I asked him why he did that and he said that he had to mark all the potholes so I looked at the white spot again and turned to him asking, how far away is the pothole from that circle? He said, "Inside the white circle!" What he was calling a pothole wouldn't even show up in our photos or on your radar. When I returned from this trip I met with Senator Carlos John and told him to visit Martinique and check out their roads.

The next thing that you notice is that there are no traffic lights. They prefer to use roundabouts as speed controls together with policemen in short pants pointing lasers. Another thing that you notice is that everyone seems to be trying to go as fast as possible almost as though they're running out of time. After all, the speed limit is 110Km in good weather 90km when raining. So it's common to see people driving at 150km to 180km on the highway.[Photo: Speed Limit Sign]

Most of their secondary roads are twisty with fast corners. If you can't drive and don't like driving fast, take a bus. Drivers take driving seriously, nobody reads papers or puts on makeup behind the wheel. Heck, not even passengers have that luxury. When you want to change lanes or turn off the highway, be sure to use your indicator or you'll end up hearing the kind of words they don't print in translation dictionaries. Oh and another thing, when it's your turn to make a move on a roundabout, just do it cause nobody, not even granny will give you a chance.

The majority of the cars are European hatchbacks with lowered springs and 17" rims. They have Audi A4s and A3s like we have Sentra B13s. BMW 740I and Mercedes E-Class are your typical Taxi and the cost of a well equipped BMW 3 Series with a 3500 cc engine is TT$150,000.00 before discount. Unlike here, a car does not seem to be much of a status symbol. Even their houses aren't extravagant and that does not mean that these people aren't rich. Their society seems to be more concerned with good health, dressing well and comfortable lifestyles rather than trying to outdo the Jones[Photo: Your everyday taxi: BMW 740I] .

The evening before the Rally, FIA officials from France inspected all of the cars and affixed official documents to the rear window of each car which included photos of the driver and navigator or Pilot and Copilot as they say it. Next, the cars are driven in a convoy to an area designated as the Parc Ferme', where all the cars remained under guard until the next day. No one is allowed to touch anything on his or her car until after the first stage of the rally. The weather forecast predicted rain so Morris and Mc Kenzie put on rain tyres before their car was inspected but everyone else kept on slicks. It was a gamble that team T&T hoped would pay off. The officials were so confident of their Group F cars that they threatened to dismantle every nut and bolt on Peter's car if he won and they were serious.[Photo: They checked everything twice!]

That night we had dinner at the Village of Diamonds, which is where we stayed courtesy of the ASAM (Martinique's Rally Club). Their food takes some getting used to but the next time we go we'll help them invent salt and source. I feel we could also make some good money selling yeast cause their bread is hard, hard, hard. The bread actually cut my gums. Don't think that Mc Donald's burgers were any softer. The French like their bread tough. Strange but true. An another strange phenomenon is that some women think that it is attractive to grow long hair under their armpits.

During dinner a limbo dancer entertained us. He took a woman from the audience, had her lay down in his arms and he limbo danced with her under a 1 foot high bar.

The next morning it was all smiles from Mc Kenzie when he knocked on the door to celebrate the fact that rain was falling. But the race was due to start at 2:00 p.m. would the rain last?

The Rally started at exactly 2:00 p.m. on Saturday and finished for us at about 9:00 a.m. Sunday Morning. That's right, none stop racing all through the night without any sleep for the drivers. After every four stages, the times were tallied and the cars regrouped with the leading cars leaving first.[Photo: 1st Parc Ferme']

Because of the heavy tree cover the mountain roads remained moist but after the first stage Morris changed from wets to the slicks because even though the roads were wet, the surface had tremendous grip. The Mercedes pit crew assigned to us was efficient and professional.
The Pit crew consisted of two vehicles, one that was always positioned at the end of each stage and another that raced back and forth between the end and the start of every stage and when I say race I mean race. I drove some night stages with them on dark mountain roads that make Maracas look straight not to mention the fog that reduced visibility to about eight feet yet the driver had the van on three wheels around curves most of the way. Talk bout Pressure! Every few hundred meters we ran over Manicous the size of pompeks. When I mentioned that people back home eat Manicous the pit crew almost killed themselves laughing.[Photo: Second Parc Ferme']

During the daytime stages we stocked up on food and drinks and everywhere we went we were recognized as Team T&T. The people were very friendly and we did not have a hard time dealing with the language barrier.

The fan support was tremendous. People lined both sides of the road through the stages and along the road between stages to catch a glimpse of the race cars. Remember that the actual race course consists of the regular public roads that the authorities blocked off for the race. The crowd was so thick at one of the night stages that we had to stand on a wall to see the road. That was one of the best 90-degree corners to watch. If anyone made a mistake they would either take out some of the spectators, crash into the gas station or slam into the cemetery. Talk about a recipe for disaster, add a dash of 300 bhp at 100 Mph, 250 spectators, ten thousand gallons of gas, some cemetery dirt and wham spectator cream pie.
[Photo: Fans lined the streets. If you look closely you'll see a Clio and a 2001 Lexus. Hint- Third stop light glowing.]

Two drivers actually spun their cars and took out portions of the crowd and without stopping continued their race while another made a spectacular slide but stuck in the wrong gear and destroyed his gear box. Besides the fact that it was too dark to take pictures I had to scramble for balance on the wall when Mc Kenzie's wife grabbed hold of my leg just when a car plowed through the crowd. [Photo: Hotel Cosworth]

[Photo: Feared Former WRC Celica GT4]

The owner of the Hotel where we stayed raced a Ford Cosworth. This Hotel also sponsored the beauty queen we photographed. During one of the night stages the Cosworth lost control and flipped, eventually landing on the driver's side. [Small Photo: The Hotel served scrambled Cosworth the next morning] The much feared Toyota Celica GT4 also suffered a similar faith when it slammed into the mountain near the Hotel. That crash put and end to their race.

The most dominant car was the dreaded Peugeot 306 Maxi Kit Car. That car made Evolutions look slow. Their power to weight ratio gave them a fantastic advantage not to mention the power of their engine. This car is what is referred to as a factory works car, one purpose built for racing. The only metal parts on this ride are the hood, engine and roll cage. Everything else was either fiberglass or carbon fiber. The estimated cost of the car from the factory is half a million US dollars. The father and son team that drove this beast can certainly afford it. They eventually won the race by a full eight minutes even though they were trailing Morris after the first four stages. [Photo: 306 Maxi Kit Car]

Another Kit Car entrant was the Citroen Saxo, a seductive little car with wide fender flares similar to the 306. The two Cosworths and the Celica GT4 are also works cars and the Celica was a former WRC competition car

There were many female teams and female Copilots and they sure put on a show worth seeing again. There was no dexterity event at the end of the 17-hour rally but it didn't matter because sleep was the only thing on our minds after the official results were announced..[Photo: Citroen Saxo Kit Car]

The organizers of the Rallye Madinina must be complimented for a job well done. The event went off without a single hitch. There was a Marshall and a Police Officer on every road that intersected the rally course and each stage was closed at least an hour sometimes two before the start of each stage. Official vehicles picked up and dropped off the Marshals and Police before and after each stage and food and refreshments were provided for them. Medical teams were stationed inside of the stages at the end and at the beginning of the stages. It was surprising to discover that by the time we left the final stage and got back to the Hyundai Dealership where the event began, the results were already posted on the notice board and printed copies were available for anyone that wanted one.

Peter Morris & Barry Mc Kenzie were winners of their Class and came in eight over all. Congratulations! That was no easy feat. Just think about it for a while. Those locals drive their roads every day and compete every month. They know every square inch of those roads and most of the stages were night stages, not to mention the caliber of their cars and the experience they have in setting up their suspension and camber for those stages. Of the 34 teams that entered the race Team T&T beat 26 of them and delivered respectable results.[Photo: Skoda Octavia 3 Door with OZ Polaris Wheels]

In case some of you don't already know, Peter Morris has purchased a brand new Evolution VI from Diamond Motors and plans to retire his EVO 1 and compete with the EVO VI from now on. Parts for the new car including eighteen-inch wheels have already been bought together with suspension bits, programmable ECU and other Group A gear. The recently established firm, Big Boyz Toyz spearheaded by Rookie of The Year Rally contender Wayne Persad, was contracted to seam weld the EVO VI and install a roll cage. Judging from the extremely well executed roll cage in Wayne's EVO IV, Peter's car is in good hands. By the way, if you're interested in making a bid for the now retired EVO 1. Opening bids begin at $140,000.00, as is, but without the Gems ECU, racing wheels or spares. What you could negotiate for are those brand new racing seats Peter just bought for the EVO.

What about the women you ask? Well no matter where you go on this planet you're gonna find beautiful women but none as beautiful as Trini women. We spent some time at the mall and took some photos of the women and managed to spend some time with a local beauty queen during the rally. Because of their emphasis on fitness, most of the women have sexy bods, well shaped legs, smooth skin, and unblemished complexions. Shoulder length hair seems the norm and from the topless sunbathers we saw, they are generously endowed.

And the winner is…	From the front
From the Behind	Say cheese and smile
The night time was the right time. This was taken at about 2:00 a.m.