Big Boyz Toyz Stages Rally @ Reform - 1st. July 2001

Article by Duane Boodasingh
Photography byDuane Boodasingh

Stage Rallies are by far the most intense motorsport on both car and driver, or so a fellow spectator said to me while we braved standing dangerously close to the inside of a corner, in an attempt to catch the action first hand.

I was forced to agree with him when, not 5 seconds after making the statement, a competing B12 Sentra drifted through the same corner only to clip the edge of a pothole and lost his left-front tyre. Ignoring the damaged wheel, the driver pressed on, only keeping in mind that he was racing against the clock. More times than likely the predominant strategy would be to save the car and not the race - I don’t think rally drivers subscribe to that chain of thought. Winning seems to be everything.

On Sunday 1st July 2001, I attended one of the best stage rallies for spectators in Trinidad - The Big Boyz Toyz Stages at Reform Village just off the southern end of the Solomon Hochoy Highway. This rally takes place through the dusty taska roads of the Caroni cane fields, and I stress on DUSTY.

Now we all know taska roads aren't the best and are far from being smooth - just imagine negotiating through the cane fields at 150kmph+ with only your navigator to shout the directions to you while you try to maintain your speed and traction. Well this is what 9 drivers along with their navigators undertook, and while some suffered severe car and ego damage and others victory, they all enjoyed the thrill that keeps them rallying.

The relatively low cane allowed for fine viewing of almost the entire course from the surrounding hills, however most of the fanatical spectators opted for the hands-on approach (myself included) and braved the course itself, occupying corners that they felt would have the most action.

With an average time of 3 minutes to complete the relatively short course, competitors drove 5 laps in one direction, and then 5 laps in the other. The fastest time of the day of 2mins 45secs was pulled off by Colin Khan and Richard Ramsingh who pushed their red 120Y like no other 120Y has been pushed before, despite a broken exhaust for the last few stages. This coupled with expert driving and navigation got them the first place standing for this event. Franklyn Seegobin and Visham Maharaj placed 2nd. in their Corolla FX while Rally Club President Shelford Robinson and navigator Andrew Nassier took 3rd. in Shelford's "Lizzard B12 Sentra". Hopefulls, Shiva Mahabir in his turbocharged Laser and Jerome Lum Hung & Rudy Ramsawak in their turbocharged RWD Corolla, suffered crippling damage, which put them out of the race. Shiva was actually in the lead before his car's cooling system failed.

Despite the fact that some of the big guns weren't present at this event, namely Peter Morris in his Evo 6, Wayne Persad in his Evo 5 and Erica Dinoo in her Turbo Starlet, the fun factor was indeed high and the dust that left with most of the spectators' clothing stood as a testament of the thrills that took place. Be sure to look out for the next stage rally, get there early to safely secure your best vantage point and see for yourself how intense this sport can really be.

Read more at the TTRC official website: http://ttrcrally.homestead.com