The Toyota Castrol 500 Championship Rally - 12th. November 2000
Article by Duane Boodasingh
Photos by Rawle Francis, Duane Boodasingh, Daren Dhoray and Reeard Mohammed

The Toyota Castrol 500 Championship Rally was held on Sat. 11th and Sun. 12th November, the eleventh and final championship event on the Rally Club's calendar for 2000, with the Tulip Rally and Treasure Hunt being held on Saturday and the High Speed Stages on Sunday.

The TriniTuner Crew witnessed an action packed day on Sunday from the time scrutineering started until the last stage was run. Briefing began at The City of Grand Bazaar at 10am for the Nine (9) highspeed stages through the Caroni Rice Project.

Peter Morris in his Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 1 emerged the winner with a total elapse time of 23 mins 54 secs as he had some very quick times and spectacular jumps on the stage. Shelford Robinson in the Greased Lightening Nissan Sentra finished second with a total elapse time 28 mins 39 secs as he was consistent throughout the day. Erica Jobity-Dinnoo, Castrol Starlet finished third with an overall e.phped time of 28 mins 48 secs and followed by Fawaz Mohammed, Castrol Sunny in fourth with 29 mins 43 secs and Franklyn Seegoobin, fifth in 29 mins 48 secs. The event was well attended with a lot of spectators and the drivers really enjoyed themselves, but there were a few disappointments for some of the competitors.

Haresh Nanan in his Castrol sponsored Toyota Corolla ran-off in the first special stage as he landed bad and ended off the road in a jump towards the end of the stage. Duane from the TriniTuner crew navigated with Haresh for the final three stages as his navigator Reshma suffered a neck injury. Duane also navigated with Devindra Nath for the first three stages in a Quaker State sponsored turbo Mazda 323 which was the 00 car for the event. Rawle Francis also of the TriniTuner crew navigated with Nath in the final stages.

Dave Rampersad in his Greased Lightening Madza 323 had brake problems on Stage #4, as his left rear wheel brake line broke. He continued, but was unable to do justice to the stages.

Prentice Ali in his black Nissan March running a stock 1000cc turbocharged engine, ran-off on the last yump in Stage #2, which took him out of the rally. Prentice and his navigator Rishi Maharaj during their first run made the last yump very hard, taking the car airborne at 145km/h and landed nicely to continue that stage. The confidence gained from that run convinced them that it could be taken at a higher speed the second time around. As they approached the yump again at 155km/h the car danced around a bit, not wanting to go over with the car unstable he geared down and reduced his speed. The car shot over the yump and landed at an undesirable angle. Trying to straighten up the line, the left wheels touched the smooth grass and the car careened to the left into the nearby cane. Further correction caused the car to drift wildly to the right. Prentice said he fought to regain control of the car but was unable to see as cane and grass hindered his view. The car hit a concrete drain on the right and came to a stop in a rice paddy. Shaken but not injured Prentice and Rishi came out the car to assess the damage, which turned out to be a popped out windscreen, and a badly damaged cradle and sub-frame. The car was removed from the field and the stages continued. Unshaken, Prentice later said that the car is undergoing repair right now and will be ready for next week's circuit racing.

Wayne Persad was putting-down some very quick times in his Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 4, even beating some of Peter Morris' times, but Wayne who was putting down some big jumps too ended up running-off, damaging the car which cost him the rally.

The Big Boyz Toyz team started out confident during the first few stages of the rally with Wayne Persad at the steering wheel and David Gibbon navigating. This confidence seemed to get the better of many teams as Gibbon suffered a similar fate, injuring his back on the last yump early in the day. Wayne asked Chris Huggins to sit in place of Gibbon for the rest of the day. This was Huggins' first chance at navigating, but he handled his job like a pro, helping to bring the team only seconds behind the team of Peter Morris and Barry Mc Kenzie who were leading for the day. Big Boyz Toyz damaged their oil filter when fierce braking caused the front of the car to dip as it made contact with the gravel course - this cost them two stages and another reason to push even harder.

On the 9th stage Persad and Huggins tried to play catch up, and just wanting to prove that they could infact beat Morris if the two stages weren't lost, decided that they would try for a best time in this stage. Approaching the last yump at 180km/h, the car sailed 25 feet as it leapt 6 feet into the air crossing the yump's crest. This was not abnormal, as Wayne had been repeating this move all day. However, despite the fact that the car landed in a perfect line, it picked up into a four-wheel drift, which is a perfect move for a chicane or a sweeping corner, but unfortunately the yump lead to a straight. This cause the Evo IV to shoot wildly to the right at a mind blowing speed of 165km/h. The Mitsubishi powerhouse slammed into the nearby concrete drain, where Prentice and Rishi suffered their earlier loss. It train tracked its way down the ditch only to change direction as the drain stopped, causing the car to go airborne again in a wild, uncontrollable bonnet to trunk spin coupled with an anti-clockwise rotation. The Evo came to stop finally, and perhaps luckily, in a dense rice paddy.
However this wasn't the end of the team's trouble as they apparently briefly passed out during the somersaults. Huggins was the first to take action, releasing his five-point harness and reaching for Persad who was covered in mud and slush but wasn't moving. Chris Huggins said that as he reached for Wayne's helmet to see if his face was damaged, his hand went into Wayne's mouth only to bring out mud and some blood. Huggins thought the worst but almost immediately Wayne started moving and Chris helped him out of his helmet and harness.

By this time the spectators gathered to help Wayne and Chris out the mangled wreck to safety. They suffered injuries to their back shoulders and neck with cuts and bruises, but all was well as they stood looking at the badly damaged Evo. A Caroni tractor was used to pull the car out of the rice paddy to await a wrecker. They were taken to Mt Hope Medical Centre where they were released with bandages and braces.
Despite being shaken up quite a bit Wayne is currently working to bring the car back out on the rally circuit to compete in next year's Texaco Rally in Barbados and Mexico. The car suffered a slightly deformed roll cage and sub frame, however the body may have to be replaced entirely. With the engine, drive train and transfer case in good order work will start on the car immediately. Both team members took this ill fated event as a reality check, and plan to return to the same course as soon as the car is ready, to ensure that any fear for that stage is removed. Also shaken up by the turn of events, David Gibbon will help Big Boyz Toyz return to the rally scene. Chris will hold this experience and use it to propel his renewed love for rallying. He hopes to navigate again with Persad in upcoming events.

Results