John Powell is welcomed by members of the TTRC as he returns home from his successful entry in the FIA/NACAM Rally Cañadas in Puebla, Mexico. He represented Trinidad & Tobago along with co-driver Jamaican Mike Fennell. The pair campaigned in a Group N Evolution IX and took 2nd overall behind the WRC-seeded Mexican, Ricardo Trivino. — Piarco Int' Airport, Trinidad.
The NACAM Rally Championship (NRC) 2012 will be contested over six events in five countries. The events will be in Puebla, Mexico (April 20 - 21), Oaxaca, Mexico (May 18 - 19), Costa Rica (July 6 - 7), Peru (Aug 31 - Sep 1), Panama (Oct 12 - 13) and Colombia (Nov 16 - 17). Powell and Fennell Jr's 2007 Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX was built in Italy and produces 309hp/576nm. of torque. Engineer/mechanic/service crew is handled by Dom Buckley Motorsports (DBM) with Peter Clarke as team manager.
Rally Cañadas was the first event of the NRC 2012 series. John commented that the stages are
"very slippery" and
"make Bronte look like a simple sprint". The altitude also posed some challenges resulting in lower engine power and easy overheating. The loss of an engine cooling fan and their intercom system on a few stages did not help either as both driver and navigator had to work at maintaining their own breathing at rally pace this far above sea level.
"Stage 7 proved that Ricardo is catchable and we held back since he was on his home turf. His lines were perfect and you couldn't help but simply follow them. It will be interesting to see how things turn out on neutral ground. There was no point in hurting the car either, especially with its sensitivity to engine temperature." Powell commented on the sheer distance covered with well over 100km per day and the number of blind crests followed by long plunging valleys and/or ninety degree corners. With such a great start the Mexicans are now wondering if all Trinidadian rally drivers can run at such a pace.
"Now they all want to know where Trinidad is" said a satisfied but not complacent Powell. He also spoke about the FIA officials' thorough handling of technical inspections and protest verifications saying that
"they went through every single detail of the car, they wanted the turbo off, they measured the diamater of the brake discs, the size of the calipers, the shock tower mounts, safety harnesses, everything..."Following Powell's recent victory at Rally Trinidad 2012, we look forward to the rest of the NRC calendar and perhaps we may be able to provide our usual level of coverage for the Costa Rican leg. Either way, the fans are extremely proud of this Caribbean team and their magnificent debut result. The team would like to officially thank their sponsors FT Farfan/Shell Lubricants and the Trinidad and Tobago Development Company Limited and all the FIA-related officials who facilitated them.