The Trinidad and Tobago Karting Association staged its 4th Competition Event for 2024 on 7th July 2024 at the Frankie Boodram Wallerfield International Raceway. With every event the entry list keeps getting longer! This event saw 35 driver entries in the 5 racing classes: LO206 Cadets, LO206 Sportsman, Rotax Mini, LO206 Masters and Rotax Senior.
The day started with heavy showers but didn’t dampen spirits and drivers, parents and teams took in some British Grand Prix action while scrutineering was underway. This was followed by a driver’s briefing conducted by Scrutineer, Joshua Deonarinsingh, Race Director, Scott Sheppard and Clerk of the Course, Shiv Sharma. New LO206 Masters drivers Jason Ross and Christopher Wong were welcomed to the grid and Sachin Baboolal was welcomed back in LO206 Sportsman. Jason Ross is the father of Logan Ross. It was great to see this Mobil-powered father/son team in action.
In the control tower with Scott was Sheldon Lai Leung, the timekeeper. Club VP, Ravi Singh acted as the day’s Steward if there were any protests.
LO206 Cadets qualifying was up first. Jonathan Charan topped the timesheet with a 41.345s. Kiran Bhimsingh was not far off his pace completing the front row with a 41.656s. Ethan Charan was next followed by Nialan Seecharan Jnr., Christian Phillip then young Logan Ross.
In LO206 Sportsman qualifying, Alex Sharma who was double-classing this event set the quickest time of 37.777s. Abhishek Ramdeen outqualified more experienced drivers to take P2 with a 38.805s. Luke Chong-Ashing qualified 3rd with 38.853s. Lars Newallo took P4 and Varin Bhimsingh, 5th. Bradley Froehlich, Jadon Walcott, Shania Persad and Sachin Baboolal completed the starting order. Matias Morton-Gittens had to sit out qualifying on account of some repairs being done to his kart after an off during warmups.
In Rotax Mini Max, Axl Garcia put down an impressive 35.377s and he was followed by Reinaldo Naipaul with a 36.337s then Marc Chong-Ashing whose best time was 37.459s.
In LO206 Masters, Brandon Singh took pole with 38.571s. Joshua Deonarinesingh took P2 with 39.131s and Anil Singh put down a 39.802s for P3. Ronald Wortman found himself in unfamiliar territory in P4 followed by Kasey Ramoutar and Stocklyn Phillip in P5 and P6. Rookie, Christopher Wong took to it like a duck to water and qualified P7 in his kart bearing number 777 and he was followed by Aaron Achan and Vaughn Maharaj. Jason Ross did not post a time owing to a transponder issue.
Rotax Senior Max was last up for qualifying. Benjamin Mahon qualified in P1 with a 33.606s followed very closely by Alex Sharma with a 33.669s. These two young men aged 17 and 13 respectively are Trinidad and Tobago’s Senior and Junior drivers for the upcoming FIA Motorsport Games, regarded as the “Olympics of Motorsport”, in Valencia, Spain. Right behind them were Naomi Garcia and Christian Gajadhar. Adam Mustapha did not get a proper shot at qualifying due to engine issues which would hamper him all day.
Following the lunch break, the Cadets were out first. The Officials opted for standing starts again for this Class because of some lingering rain. In Heat 1 Ethan Charan who clearly has a knack for getting a good start got an early lead and managed to hold on to it for a couple of laps until his older brother Jonathon got the better of him. Young Kiran Bhimsingh put in a masterful drive to get past Ethan and hold on to P2 for most of the race only to have that spot taken from him on the last lap by Ethan. Nialan Jnr. and Logan battled well. In the end, Nialan Jnr. came in P4 with Logan and Christian classed as finishing P5 and P6.
Heat 2 saw action with the reverse grid, there was lots of position changes in the first 3 laps. Jonathon and Kiran both moved through the pack well and by lap 3 were first and second. It would stay that way for the entire race. Behind them was an exciting race between Nialan Jnr. and Ethan. With Nialan Jnr. ahead, the pair came together in the back hairpin which resulted in Nialan Jnr. losing some ground and the position. They finished 3rd and 4th. Christian would finish 5th and Logan 6th.
In the 12-lap Final, Kiran Bhimsingh again showed promise by finishing 2nd behind Jonathan Charan who did a fine job of capturing the lead and holding it all the way to the chequered flag. Nialan Jnr and Ethan battled it out again. This time Nialan Jnr held his own and took P3 with Ethan P4. Christian was a DNF and Logan was a DNS.
In Sportsman Heat 1, with 10 teenagers turn 1 was action! Varin and Bradley came together which caused a jumble behind them. Varin was out but Bradley was able to continue. Lars got up to 3rd only to tumble down to 9th but he wasn’t discouraged and steadily made his was through the pack. Abhishek managed to hold on to second place for quite a few laps until Luke got the better of him to finish the Heat in P2 with Abhi in P3. Matias who started the race from the rear of the grid clinically dispatched the mid-pack and was up to 4th by mid-race. However, he couldn’t improve on that position by the chequered flag. Alex would run a solitary race, free from the action behind, to finish P1. Bradley finished 5th and Lars recovered to 6th. Shania put in a solid drive to come home 7th ahead of Sachin Baboolal who acquitted himself well in his return to the Class after a year off. Jadon Walcott did well to get from 7th to run as high as 4th until mechanical issues put him out.
In Heat 2, reverse grid, Alex weaved his way through traffic to get to P1 by lap 4 and maintain it to the end. Matias got a great start and finished P2. There was no drama between those two. Luke charged hard and eventually passed Lars on the last lap to take third place. Lars ran a great race and settled for 4th. Abhishek had some early battles with Bradley but overcame him to take 5th. Jadon put in some excellent work and clinically worked through to finish 6th. Bradley was right behind him in 7th. Varin finished 8th and Sachin completed the order. Shania was a DNF. Everyone was promoted 1 place up when Alex was disqualified from the Heat for coming in 1 pound underweight after the race.
The 20-lap Final was a lot calmer than the previous two races. Alex got to P1 quickly with Luke, Mathias and Abhishek battling it out behind. Luke would manage P2 with Mathias in P3. Varin drove well by taking home P4 in the Final. Abhi would run as high as 3rd but lost some ground to finish 5th. Lars had a steady race and finished 6th. Sachin completed the finishing order. Jadon and Shania were DNFs and Bradley was a DNS in the Final.
In Rotax Mini Heat 1, Axl was gone! By the chequered flag he had carved out a sizeable gap of 13.5s over Reinaldo who finished 2nd and Marc finished 3rd. In the reverse grid, Marc went off-track and was out early. Axl dispatched Reinaldo by the 3rd lap and would take the win. Reinaldo came in 2nd. In the Final, Axl drove a great race to the chequered flag for the win. Reinaldo came in 2nd again with Marc a DNF.
In LO206 Masters Heat 1, Brandon, Joshua and Anil had an uneventful race to take P1-3 respectively. Kasey got passed Ronald to take P4 with Ronald in P5, still trying different things and getting used to a different chassis. Stocklyn, Aaron and Christopher had fun and entertaining drives with Stocklyn taking P6 just pipping Christopher, on the last lap, who would finish P7. Aaron and rookie Jason Ross finished P8 and P9 and Vaughn completed the order.
In the Heat 2 reverse grid, Brandon got a brilliant start and was away in P1 early. Joshua had more work to do and cleared the mid-pack before setting about chasing Brandon and Anil. He would pass Anil to take P2 with Anil in P3 at the finish. Ronald came home P4 with rookie Christopher Wong doing really well to take P5. Stocklyn would make it home in P6 with Aaron right behind him in P7. Vaughn and Jason came in P8 and 9 respectively. Kasey closed the finishing order due to a mechanical issue.
In the Final, Brandon was away well with Joshua hot on his heels. They finished P1 and 2. Anil had his OTK kart dialled in well and got around Ronald for P3. Ronald settled for P4. Kasey was clean and serene in P5 for the whole race. Stocklyn and Christopher were at it again with Stocklyn holding on to sixth for the entire race only for Christoper to get the better of him close to the end of the race for finish P6. Stocklyn got P7. Jason did well in P8 and Aaron brought his No. 950 kart home in 9th. Vaughn completed the order.
In Rotax Senior Heat 1, Ben got a great start and maintained his starting position. Alex and Naomi would come together early in the race. Naomi tried her best to catch Ben but he finished P1. Naomi was P2. Alex finished P3. Young Christian Gajadhar fresh from his first race in Jamaica put in a great drive to come in P4. Adam was a DNF with mechanical issues.
In the reverse grid race, Naomi made a good start and made the boys work very hard to catch her. The Motorsport Games duo were in an intense race of their own behind her but both got around her eventually. Ben would take the win followed by Alex. Naomi came P3 and Christian put in another solid drive for P4. Adam was out early with mechanical.
In the Final, everyone got away cleanly. Ben held his lead all the way to the end with Alex right behind him and Naomi following closely. 3 seconds separated the three of them. Christian, though he was a little further behind them on this occasion, had clearly shown that he was now back in the class to do business. Adam was a DNS.
The usual prizegiving festivities followed after the racing with Roger Hutcheon, TTASA’s Secretary on hand to assist with the prizegiving. This Event’s trophies was kindly sponsored by the Adon Group, distributors for Valvoline products and some really cool trophies were handed out. A new award was handed out to “the Driver of the Day”. The awardee was selected by the Race Director after seeing all the races. The inaugural awardee was Abhishek Ramdeen and it was presented to him by the Adon Group’s Director, Aaron Achan.
Stay tuned for more racing action when karting continues next at Wallerfield on Sunday 4th August for Championship Event #5.
Event Results
LO206 Cadets
1st Jonathan Charan; 2nd Kiran Bhimsingh; 3rd Ethan Charan; 4th Nialan Seecharan Jnr; 5th Christian Phillip; 6th Logan Ross
LO206 Sportsman
1st Alex Sharma; 2nd Luke Chong-Ashing; 3rd Matias Morton-Gittens; 4th Abhishek Ramdeen; 5th Lars Newallo; 6th Varin Bhimsingh; 7th Bradley Froehlich; 8th Sachin Baboolal; 9th Jadon Walcott; 10th Shania Persad
Rotax Mini
1st Axl Garcia; 2nd Reinaldo Naipaul; 3rd Marc Chong-Ashing
LO206 Masters
1st Brandon Singh; 2nd Joshua Deonarinesingh; 3rd Anil Singh; 4th Ronald Wortman; 5th Kasey Ramoutar; 6th Christopher Wong; 7th Stocklyn Phillip; 8th Aaron Achan; 9th Jason Ross; 10th Vaughn Maharaj
Rotax Senior
1st Benjamin Mahon; 2nd Alex Sharma; 3rd Naomi Garcia; 4th Christian Gajadhar; 5th Adam Mustapha
For detailed results including laptimes check out this link
