The much anticipated competition drifting is back at the Wallerfield International Raceway! After an extended hiatus, the Trinidad and Tobago Automobile Sport Association (TTASA) and Trinidad and Tobago Drift Association (TTDA) joined forces to host the 2019 Drift Championship.
On Sunday 17th March, 2019, an astonishing 17 competitors registered for the first round of the 2019 Championship. Spectators swarmed the venue and filled the stands, as they welcomed the return of competition.
At around 2:30PM the qualifying session started as each competitor were given two chances to score the highest points possible- the better of the two runs were used to build the competition brackets. Judging points were awarded for angle, line, clipping points 1 and 2, clipping zone 1 and also the general style/fluidity of the driver. The Top 8 qualifiers automatically moved into the competition.
The judging style used for competition allowed points to be awarded for both lead and chase runs, a total of 22 points for each and then tallied to give 44 points per competitor per round (Top 8, Top 4 and Finals). The reason for this is to ultimately eliminate the need for One More Time runs as each run was judged individually.
It was Top Qualifier Shaun Sukhdeo and Rajive Suchit to make it to the finals, but a slim 7 point lead for Suchit made him the overall winner- Sukhdeo in second. The battle for third place occurred between Clint Kumar and Ricardo Singh, but yet another slim lead, gave Kumar the third place position by just 5 points.
Honorable mention goes to Jason Washington of SpeedFab868, as he man handled his crowd-pleasing Datsun 620 and landed a 4th qualifier position. Unfortunately his battle to the top, ended in the Top 8, after losing momentum in his battle with Ricardo Singh.
The Trinidad and Tobago Sport Association and Trinidad and Tobago Drift Association, thanks all competitors, spectators and event staff for making this event possible and look forward to the second event scheduled for April 7th.
We would also like to take this opportunity to notify all, that the 2019 Drift Championship is still in need of a title sponsor. For more information contact our Honorary Secretary at secretary@ttasa.club.
