OFFICIAL RALLY TRINIDAD 2012 POST - Overall results on pg8

foss · Postby **foss** » April 3rd, 2012, 8:37 am

I was disappointed with the highlights of Rally on news last night...

only 3 or 4 unimpressive shots.. :roll:

Really expected more!

droppa · Postby **droppa** » April 3rd, 2012, 8:58 am

too me i eh even see a pic in the newspapers......smh.....the mayor like he eh even know the name of the sport...keep referring to it as "auto racing" and like is only Ainsley and Robbie who do all the moisturizing...Mr Mayor, u could have really done a better speech than dat man........

Postby **tr1ad** » April 3rd, 2012, 9:33 am

one day i'll get good like the real photographers

foss · Postby **foss** » April 3rd, 2012, 9:43 am

Dewayne, I could lend you the P&S

Postby **tr1ad** » April 3rd, 2012, 9:45 am

i feel dais d real flick fadda

yuh have wa bout 50 x optical zoom dan

foss · Postby **foss** » April 3rd, 2012, 9:57 am

yuh feel i iz ah novice orrrr??

5X zoom fadda,,

rcadiz · Postby **rcadiz** » April 3rd, 2012, 1:52 pm

What can’t be said about Rally Trinidad 2012 is probably the best question. With the dust still settling in the Bronte and Cedar Hill Stages and the streets of Chaguanas still smoking from the tires of the winners, Rally Trinidad 2012 has definitely proved to have
exceeded all expectations.

From the Friday evening opening in the Hasely Crawford Stadium, one could see the hype was building, and service park area was full of life with some of the best Rally machinery in the Caribbean today. John Powell’s WRC Subaru S14 (Shell Helix / Intercontinental Shipping) was hot topic as it was compared to the visiting competition of Jamaican’s Jeffrey Panton (Ford Focus WRC06 – Total Lubricants) and Gary Gregg (Ford Focus WRC05), and the ever formidable Bajan opposition of Sean Gill’s Suzuki SX4 WRC06 (Shell V-Power / Monster / Lifestyle Motors / Virgin Atlantic). Also on display was John Powell’s Evo X which was generously lent out to Bajan gravel specialist Trevor ‘Micey’ Manning. All the local favourites were showing off their colours as well with Stuart Johnson, David Coelho, Cristian Bourne and Mark Williams, all hoping to outclass top visiting drivers Manning, Betts, and Morley. The battle in 4WD promised to be epic and so it began. 2WD was hotly contested as well with a great fight brewing between Jamaican Bobby Marshall (Mitsubishi Colt – Total Lubricants), Ryan Peyrau (Suzuki Swift Sport – Lifestyle Motors / Monster / Shell / Ventura Auto) and Devi Nath (Toyota Starlet).

The action began with the ever popular Stadium stage with 2 competitive runs through a short 1.3km stage. First off the line was Jeffrey Panton as 2011 defending Rally Trinidad Champion. It was evident that Panton needed some seat time to get familiar with his new ride as he was down a few seconds to the rest of the WRC field from the first stage. John Powell led the charge with Sean Gill hot on his heels, only second to Powell by 0.7 seconds. Devi Nath in the Starlet was very impressive leading 2WD, probably using all of his Solodex skills in the process. The first 2 stages went largely without surprise, excepting John Powell’s very costly mistake of a spin on Stage 2 handing Sean Gill a 17 second lead going into Saturday. Besides Junior Phillips taking the 2 front wheels off of his Hyundai Scoupe, the opening night of Rally Trinidad was without any major incident. The fans came out in their numbers and the action was superb.

Saturday morning saw Sean Gill make a slight calculation error with his check in time and was penalized 4 seconds making the margin now 13 seconds difference between him and Powell. With Panton sweeping the course, and Gill following second off the line, the WRC battle began with Powell clawing time back almost every stage before lunch. Gregg was noticeably off the pace but he could do little as the front 3 were in all relatively newer machines. Bajan James Betts (Grp A Mitsubishi Evo X) and his countryman Trevor Manning (Grp N Mitsubishi Evo X) were absolutely flying but local trio of Johnson, Coelho, and Bourne were never more than 10-15 seconds behind up to lunchtime. Lunchtime saw Betts encounter some serious bad luck with Fuel and Differential problems beginning to plague the older Evo V. By Stage 10 Betts unfortunately had to retire from a Rally that we would have probably been able to place just behind the vastly superior WRC cars. Betts will be in Trinidad for the rest of the season so the local 4WD boys are going to have their work cut out for them. Trevor Manning soon suffered the same fate of having to retire. In a borrowed car he went off the road on Cedar Hill and although no damage to the car, he was left out of overall contention and made the decision to call it quits. Manning was leading nearest competitor David Coelho by 11 seconds at this stage. By lunchtime on Day 2 the 2WD class saw Jamaican Bobby Marshall open up a sizeable lead with Peyrau having a terrible stage 4 due to gearbox problems, and Devi Nath simply not able to keep up. The local 2WD hopes sat squarely on the shoulders of Peyrau after Devi Nath managed to find a concrete culvert with the front left of the Starlet. The damage to the car was in no way repairable and Devi was now sharing the crash list with Morley and Phillips who were out early after leaving the road on Cedar Hill. Peyrau drove well after his disastrous Stage 4 and with the exception of the first stage on Saturday managed to actually beat Bobby Marshall by 4 seconds from Stage 5 through Stage 12. In the other 2WD class (SM4) Reyaz Mohammed (Mitsubishi Colt – Shell Helix) was comfortably running away from the pack and sitting in 3rd overall WD behind Bobby and Peyrau.
The WRC fight was back and forth all day between Gill and Powell, with Panton just staying within sight of the front 2 while Gregg could only sit and wonder what his next purchase will be, as the WRC05 Focus simply did not have the grunt to keep pace. Sean Gill won 5 of the 9 stages on Saturday with Powell taking the remaining 4. Leading Group A at the end of Saturday was David Coelho, who just made it to the end of Saturday with overheating problems beginning to affect him. Mark Williams was sitting in 2nd Group A but with a much older Evo, trying to stay with Coelho would prove too difficult. Stuart Sobby Johnson was comfortably leading Group N and occupying 5th overall just 10 seconds above Coelho. Bourne (Mitsubishi Evo VIII – Stag / Castrol) was having a solid day if not for his repeated jump starts racking up 30 seconds in penalties, but at least managing to stay in 2nd place Group N.

Sunday turned out to be a test of nerves with Powell needing to find 18 seconds to catch Gill and Panton just 15 seconds off of Powell. Gregg’s only hope for a podium finish would be a mistake by one of the front runners which would actually materialize late on Sunday. Powell came out a determined competitor and showed his true grit as the lead was cut to 3 seconds after the first 4 stages. Gill was sweeping after being first on Saturday and this proved costly as there was little he could do to hold off the charge by Powell. John found the lead for the first time all Rally on stage 17 where he pulled 7 seconds back on that stage alone. By this time Panton was starting to fly, and was also ahead of Gill for Sunday’s stages. It was then that disaster struck for Gill. With 4 stages to go, and Powell in the lead by 3+ seconds, Gill was on the edge and rolled the car in the Bronte stage. Before Gill’s unfortunate roll, spectators were commenting on every corner that the battle unfolding was undoubtedly the best ever seen on Trinidad’s shores, and possibly even for any gravel Rally in the region. There was no coming back for Gill, and with Panton not having enough stages left to mount a fight, Powell only needed to finish comfortably to take victory. Gregg moved to third as a result in the overall and WRC class finish respectively.

In 2WD, Peyrau managed to claw his way back to be fastest on Sunday but his time on Stage 4 proved to be the decider, and he had to settle for second behind winner Bobby Marshall in the formidable Mitsubishi Colt. Brothers Scott and Sean Sheppard who seemed to be having more fun in their Ford Escort MkII took 3rd place in Group M2 after putting on a dazzling display of rear wheel action all weekend. In Super Modified 4, Reyaz Mohammed continued his winning form, with little threat from the other drivers in class. He has found great consistency and continues to rack up the trophies in his class. Reverse donut king Ansel Ali kept it together to take 2nd in class with veteran Rally driver Franklyn Seegobin adding more silverware to his extremely extensive trophy cabinet.

The Rally finished with the remaining competitors putting on a show for the Mayor of Chaguanas, in the ever popular Mayor’s Cup in Saith Park. The short 1.4km tarmac super special was packed to a capacity crowd, and of course it was donut time to bring Rally Trinidad 2012 to a fitting close. Jeffrey Panton managed to win the Mayor’s Cup with the fastest time and received his award from the Mayor His Worship Orlando Nagessar. The Carnival like atmosphere on Ramsaran Street was a sight to see as all the winners collected their awards in front of a huge crowd. John ‘Penti’ Powell and Nicholas Telfer showered the photographers with champagne much to the delight of the TnT fans.

A huge thanks goes out to everyone who made this Rally the best we have ever seen in Trinidad.
Our Sponsors – (Ministry of Sport and Youth Affairs, STAG – a man’s beer, JUSAMCO, Illuminat, Ultra Lubricants, Johnny Q Sound Company, The Tourism Development Corporation – TDC, EMBDC, Tropical Power, Dasani, Red Bull, SeaFreight, Lifestyle Motors). Thanks also goes out to the Chaguanas Borough Corporation and the Mayor of Chaguanas.

Our Media – Trinituner.com, Zorce Magazine, Raceone TV Barbados, K.Layne and all the photographers – way too many to mention but the few who are at every event (Gerrard, Lyden, Dewayne, Dumplin, Mathew, Kevin, Devi when you aren’t driving), our facebook bloggers.

Our Marshals – Way to go CARS, and TnT 4x4 Trailblazers – YOU BOTH DESERVE THE MOST THANKS for helping us to run an almost perfect Rally
Our foreign guests – Larry, Errol, Nicolette, and Jeff

The final finish order is as follows:
Overall (and WRC Class finish respectively)
1. John Powell / Nicholas Telfer TRI – Subaru S14 (Shell Helix / Intercontinental Shipping)
2. Jeffrey Panton / Michael Fennel JAM – Ford Focus WRC06 (TOTAL Lubricants)
3. Gary Gregg / Hugh Hutchinson JAM – Ford Focus WRC05 (B.D Gregg and Son)

Group A 4WD
1. David Coelho / James Harris TRI – Mitsubishi Evo IX (Subway / TOTAL / BF Goodrich)
2. Mark Williams / Christopher Mills TRI – Mitsubishi Evo V (Ultra Lubricants)
3. Rezan Mohammed / Arshad Mondro TRI – Mitsubishi Evo IX (Shell Helix)

Group N 4WD
1. Stuart Johnson / Lee Quesnel TRI – Subaru N12 (Mitco Labs, Amsoil)
2. Cristian Bourne / Rikard Asbjornsen – Mitsubishi Evo VIII (STAG / CASTROL)
3. Anthony / Michael Heerah – Subaru Impreza

Group Modified 2 2WD
1. Bobby Marshall / Anand Awai JAM/TRI – Mitsubishi Colt (TOTAL lubricants)
2. Ryan Peyrau / Simon Rodriquez TRI – Suzuki Sift Sport (Lifestyle Motors / Monster / Shell Helix)
3. Scott Sheppard / Sean Sheppard TRI – Ford MkII Escort (Gulf Oil)

Group Super Modified 4 2WD
1. Reyaz Mohammed / Sayyad Saddiq TRI – Mitsubishi Colt (Shell Helix)
2. Ansel Ali / Nandalall Ramdass TRI – Mazda 323 (Central Speed / Amsoil / Extreme Fireworks)
3. Franklyn Seegobin / Ken Mohammed TRI – (Daiman Publishers)

Best Team – Team Shell
Highest Placed Foreign competitor – Jeffrey Panton / Michael Fennel JAM
Mayor’s Cup Winner - Jeffrey Panton / Michael Fennel JAM
2WD Winner – Bobby Marshall / Anand Awai

Postby **wagon r** » April 3rd, 2012, 3:06 pm

^ bess....!

rcadiz · Postby **rcadiz** » April 3rd, 2012, 5:17 pm

and for some unknown reason even to me.. must be my tiredness. i again forget to mention a team that has been with the TTRC on our progress of Rally Trinidad for a number of years now. AUTOSPORT - Rawle, Roger, Brian and the rest of the AutoSport gang have once again played a major roll in the setup of the Stadium event and Chaguanas.

Rawle we could not have done it without you guys. Many thanks for your persistence with all the approvals, and getting a lot of the hard work done to pull the event off.

Postby **Porn Star** » April 3rd, 2012, 7:01 pm

So wham Cadiz? Yuh not thanking Link and TTASA for all their help too? :lol:

sliderz1 · Postby **sliderz1** » April 3rd, 2012, 8:11 pm

very nice summary Robert.

Shifter Kart · Postby **Shifter Kart** » April 3rd, 2012, 8:25 pm

Nice report sir Cadiz. and it looks like it wass a great rally. one of these days i'll pass through

Congrats Penti - two from two in a car that they say is inferior (handling wise anyway) to the S12

i wonder if the bajans gettin nervous.....

Postby **Duane 3NE 2NR** » April 3rd, 2012, 9:49 pm

Rally Trinidad 2012 Official Results

Download the complete results here - Click here

trini mk5 · Postby **trini mk5** » April 3rd, 2012, 10:48 pm

rcadiz · Postby **rcadiz** » April 4th, 2012, 12:26 am

Shifter Kart wrote:Nice report sir Cadiz. and it looks like it wass a great rally. one of these days i'll pass through

Congrats Penti - two from two in a car that they say is inferior (handling wise anyway) to the S12 i wonder if the bajans gettin nervous.....

Haha, yeah Rally was proper boss...well Penti holding 2 out of 3 so i hear the Sheriff putting the 'gun pon c@ck'....haha

Rally Bim we go!

Postby **Duane 3NE 2NR** » April 4th, 2012, 1:30 am

man make this look so easy! like a boss!

MichaelR · Postby **MichaelR** » April 4th, 2012, 4:39 am

amazing driving, well put together video

Aaron 2NR · Postby **Aaron 2NR** » April 4th, 2012, 8:26 am

who need a wallpaper

1600x1200

iDynamic · Postby **iDynamic** » April 4th, 2012, 10:23 am

Thanks ! ... If anyone else has wallpapers please share !

Postby **tr1ad** » April 4th, 2012, 10:31 am

iDynamic wrote:Thanks ! ... If anyone else has wallpapers please share !

yuh paying

Aaron 2NR · Postby **Aaron 2NR** » April 4th, 2012, 10:53 am

daiz the only free one lol

Wolla · Postby **Wolla** » April 4th, 2012, 12:26 pm

It was a great rally!!! I am still feeling the effects from the weekend; sunburnt, cooler still in the car, throat scratchy from all the dust, shoulder hurting from waving the trini flag all weekend, and even maybe a bit slightly hungover still hahahahahaha. But well worth it, cant wait for next year. That trophy here to stay!!

Postby **tr1ad** » April 4th, 2012, 12:38 pm

at around 1:10 in the vid, you can briefly see me... all i could think was "maybe i shouldn't be standing here:"

:oops:

Postby **Duane 3NE 2NR** » April 4th, 2012, 5:09 pm

Check this release from the Barbados Rally Club

PANTON FIRED UP FOR SOL RALLY BARBADOS

Fresh from an encouraging debut in his recently-acquired ex-Marcus Gronholm Ford Focus WRC06, Jamaica’s Jeffrey Panton is fired up for his tarmac debut in the car on Sol Rally Barbados 2012 (June 9/10). With regular co-driver Mike Fennell Jnr, he finished second to local hero John Powell’s Subaru Impreza WRC S14 on the tough loose-surface stages of last weekend’s Rally Trinidad.
Winner of the Barbados Rally Club’s (BRC) premier event in 1998 in a Toyota Celica GT4, Panton is the only driver to have won the ‘Big Three’ in regional rallying, the gravel events in Jamaica and Trinidad and the closed-road tarmac event in Barbados. Six times the winner at home between 1994 and 2008, Panton ticked the final box in Trinidad last year in an ex-Colin McRae Focus WRC00.
Driven to victory in the 2007 Galway International Rally by double WRC Champion Gronholm, Panton’s new Focus, which is run by Dom Buckley Motorsport, arrived in the Caribbean only days before RT12. Backed by Total Lubricants, he drove it for the first time last Thursday: “As expected, it was a steep learning curve for us with a new car, but I think we climbed it rather quickly . . . just not enough! John drove like a true champion this weekend, his consistency and pace since Rally Jamaica have been staggering, with a level of maturity that will see many more victories.”
On the Caribbean ‘tour’, Panton has the best record – eight wins across the region – but it is not the success that drives him: “The cameraderie and friendships between us just simply make doing these rallies worth it, win, lose or draw. We are still trying to obtain sponsorship for Rally Barbados and it will be another steep learning curve on tarmac but, if I have half as much fun as I did in Rally Trinidad, it will all be good!”
Confirmation of Panton’s entry has delighted Powell: “Jeffrey will be a formidable competitor in Barbados and Jamaica. I did not expect him to come to grips with his new Focus so quickly, and that is testament to the fact that he is still one of the best - if not the best - rally drivers to ever come out of the Caribbean.”
Panton’s entry posted on the official web site, http://www.rallybarbados.bb, brings to a record 11 the entries in Modified 8-WRC, also a record number of ex-works cars. He is the fourth winner to confirm his entry in the class after local drivers Paul Bourne, Roger Skeete and Sean Gill, who won as co-driver to Ireland’s Kenny McKinstry in 1996.
One former winner not listed is Jamaican Gary Gregg, who won in his ex-Carlos Sainz Focus WRC02 in 2006, and that is a source of regret for Panton: “We just need someone to convince Gary to come . . . I've grown accustomed to travelling and competing as a team and it won't be the same without him!” Powell agrees: “Rally Barbados would not be the same without Gary there, and I really hope he changes his mind.”

Character-building weekend for Barbados crews in Rally Trinidad

After leading all three four-wheel-drive classes in the early stages of Rally Trinidad last weekend (March 30-April 1), Barbados Rally Club (BRC) members endured a series of character-building disappointments, none more so than Sean Gill and Michael Cummins (Suzuki SX4 WRC), who rolled into retirement, having led much of the event.
With six wins on the 11 stages on Friday and Saturday, Gill carried a comfortable lead into Sunday, although re-seeding put him first on the road, ‘sweeping’ the gravel stages a costly disadvantage. On home ground, John Powell/Nicholas Telfer (Subaru Impreza WRC S14) assumed the lead on stage 17. With four stages to go, Gill rolled – both he and Cummins were uninjured – promoting Jamaica’s Jeffrey Panton/Mike Fennell Jnr (Ford Focus WRC06) and Gary Gregg/Hugh Hutchinson (Focus WRC05) to the podium.
After Gill’s accident, Powell said: “Sean is the kind of driver that rarely puts a wheel wrong, but this goes to show the level of commitment that each of the top drivers have to display now in order to win. He is a tough competitor and a true sportsman.”
In Group A, early leaders James Betts/Geoff Goddard of Barbados (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo V) retired late on Saturday with a combination of mechanical issues, while Trevor Manning and Derek Edwards, who had led Group N in Powell’s generously-loaned Evo X, were unable to rejoin after an ‘off’.

Sol Rally Barbados and Shell V-Power King of the Hill are organised and promoted by the Barbados Rally Club, which celebrated its 50th Anniversary in 2007; Sol RB12 is the 23rd running of the Club’s annual International All-Stage Rally and marks the fifth year of title sponsorship by the Sol Group, the Caribbean’s largest independent oil company.

web sites: http://www.rallybarbados.bb; http://www.barbadosrallyclub.com

foss · Postby **foss** » April 4th, 2012, 5:14 pm

anyone heading over for Rally in BIM?

I'm making sure to plan way in advance...

Postby **tr1ad** » April 4th, 2012, 5:43 pm

i'm considering it

Shifter Kart · Postby **Shifter Kart** » April 4th, 2012, 6:39 pm

Duane 3NE 2NR wrote:man make this look so easy! like a boss!

nice video, but is it me or does it look like the car is a bit reluctant to spin, like its stuck in 2wd or supm

rcadiz · Postby **rcadiz** » April 4th, 2012, 6:39 pm

This is what we have been trying to explain to the folks locally. The relationship between the foreign Clubs, and the Caribbean Rally battle is so tight between Trinidad, Barbados, and Jamaica. This is something that was not there for Trinidad even up to 7 or 8 years ago. We were considered a pity Rally with mostly bad organizing and a generally poor quality of cars and drivers. Now we are proud to not only be keeping trophies at home against top foreign drivers, but also winning regional titles. Rally Trinidad is now regarded as one of the top motorsport events in the Caribbean, as a result of our stages, competitors, and teamwork organization of the TTRC, Autosport, CARS, Trailblazers, and TTKA. When will others simply support this road we are on rather than trying their best to convince the world that we do not exist?

I thank the persons responsible for the 16,500+ views of this thread, and it's great that we can finally let the actions speak louder than our words. Our event is now something that all local motorsport fans can call Trinidad's own. The event is named 'RALLY TRINIDAD' for a reason, and everyone who played a part in the planning and organization should feel proud that we have all achieved a great success by regional standards.

We have received a huge pat on our back from our regional motorsport partners, and this is something to feel great about. So next time you see persons from Autosport, CARS, Trailblazers, and TTKA, and of course the media that brought it all to life, give them a congrats!

kurpal_v2 · Postby **kurpal_v2** » April 4th, 2012, 7:52 pm

Quick suggestion - My uncle who doesn't reside here, came to this event with me and was rather impressed or inspired i should say, he wanted to have some sort of memorabilia like a tee-shirt or so but was told by the officials that they dont have any such thing for sale.

Maybe next year ttrc and others could look at this as an opportunity to capitalize on rtnt success?