Less than a month after Competition Event #4, we were back at Wallerfield for Competition Event #5 held by the Trinidad and Tobago Karting Association on Sunday 4th August 2024. At a very successful practise session the day before competitors had tested their machines to ensure they were in perfect working order.
In stark contrast to Saturday’s weather, Sunday’s forecast predicted rain. The day started as the last competition event, with heavy showers. The umbrellas were out as drivers and team members started to bring out the wet tyres….just in case. The rain did not deter spectators who filled not one, not two but three bleachers, a reminder that entry to the TTKA’s events are free to members of the public. Ainsley Lochan, retired rally ace was the Race Director for the Event and led a team of Officials. The rain pushed the schedule back by about 30 mins and following the mandatory driver’s briefing, practise sessions started off in damp conditions and drivers got a chance to get a feel for the track.
With Ainsley in the control tower was Sheldon Lai Leung, Timekeeper and Krishna Ingraham II took on his regular role as Starter. Rossi Lochan was also on hand to grid up the drivers in the Pre-Grid.
With a massive downpour close to midday, a decision was taken to bring the lunch break forward before qualifying. After lunch, the LO206 Cadets were out first to qualify. Kiran Bhimsingh topped the timesheet with a 47.736s in wet conditions. Ethan Charan went P2 with 48.688s however he had a spin and went into the boundary wall. While he was up and about soon after, Officials decided that he should not participate in further competition for the day out of an abundance of caution. His older brother Jonathan Charan qualified P3 and Nialan Seecharan Jnr. was in P4. Logal Ross had some transponder issues and did not set a time.
In LO206 Sportsman qualifying, Luke Chong-Ashing went purple with 42.744s. Next, an impressive Abhishek Ramdeen knocked on the door of 42s with a 43.028s. Mathias Morton-Gittens took P3 with 43.730s. Aran Sharma in P4, who was back in the class to do his final race with TTKA with close friends Mathias and Luke before heading abroad for school. This would also be Luke’s last event with TTKA before he too headed abroad. Next was Varin Bhimsingh followed by Lars Newallo, Jayden Ali and Shania Persad.
In Rotax Mini, Axl Garcia bagged 2 extra points by taking pole with 41.147s. Reinaldo Naipaul was P2 with 41.413s and Marc “Hamilton” Chong-Ashing would round the order with a 41.825s.
In LO206 Masters, the Red Bull kart livery and suit gave Anil Singh wings as he went purple with 44.643s. In P2 was Shivir Mahabir with 44.653s. In P3 was Christopher Wong with a 45.040s, his best qualifying position in only his second event. In P4 was Brandon Singh followed by Darrel Singh in P5. Joshua Deonarinesingh qualified P6 followed by Stocklyn “Phil” Phillip, Kasey Ramoutar and Aaron Achan in that order.
Rotax Senior Max was last up for qualifying. Benjamin Mahon qualified in P1 with a 38.668s. On his heels was Naomi Garcia in P2 with a 38.764s. Alex Sharma was ill, arrived late to the event with a fever and qualified P3 with 39.858s. Adam Mustapha who had been suffering with engine issues went P4 with a 39.995s. Christian Gajadhar was sitting out this event but was present to lend his support.
Following qualifying, the Cadets immediately went into their first Heat. Jonathon took an early lead to take the chequered flag. Kiran was looking good until an off put him down the order and Nialan Jnr. finished in second ahead of him. In Heat 2 Jonathan got away well again and took the Heat. This time Kiran drove a steady race to come home in 2nd. Nialan Jnr. finished 3rd and Logan Ross rounded the order. In the Final Kiran took the lead and Jonathon was giving chase. It was close, however they tangled with Logan while lapping him. Jonathan came out the other side in P1. Nialan Jnr. got around Kiran a few laps later to take P2. Kiran came in P3 and Logan rounded the order.
In Sportsman Heat 1 with wet conditions and a wet race declared, some of the drivers opted for slicks while others went with wets. It was great to see the drivers and their teams thinking strategically. It paid off for Luke Chong-Ashing who went out on wets, he rocketed to the front and carved out a commanding lead. Abhishek Ramdeen was running well in P2 until he spun in the apex of corner 1 which led to a tangle with Varin Bhimsingh, who was in P3. The collision sent them to the back of the running order. Aran Sharma who was on drys and was at a 46 lbs over the Class weight limit was able to pick off runners and set about trying to catch Luke. Matias Morton-Gittens who did not have the opportunity to test on Saturday and had to break in a new braking system in Sunday practise ran well on the drys too and had a spirted and very watchable midrace battle with Lars Newallo. Shania Persad showed tremendous improvement as did Jayden Ali who was also running 46 lbs above the Class weigh limit. As the track dried and more rubber got laid down on the track, the conditions began to play into the hands of the drivers who were on dry tyres for the last 1/3 of the race. Aran finally caught Luke who defended like a champ but Aran was able to get around him on the last lap for the win. Matias came in 3rd some 20s behind them but set the fastest lap of the race, a 39.374s in the process. He was followed by Lars in P4. Shania took P5 in this Heat, her best finish to date and Abhishek and Varin came home P6 and P7. Jayden rounded the order.
In the 15-lap Heat 2, the reverse grid, “Abhi” was in the lead by the second lap and held it for more than half the race until Matias who had sniped off drivers one by one caught him and passed him easily to finish P1 and Abhi P2 – his best finish in a race to date. Matias would set the fastest lap of the race again with 37.284s. Aran who started last finished P3. Lars had a great run and was as high as second and finished P4. Luke was able to secure P5. Varin had a tough race, battled hard and eventually settled for P6. Jayden and Shania finished P7 and P8.
The 20-lap Final was exciting, Aran and Matias duelled it out for the lead which at one point in time was changing at every corner. Luke was outside striking distance behind them but as the leading pair were battling, he began to close in on them. The final few laps saw a three-way fight for position between these drivers. At the flag, it was Aran, Luke and Matias in that order. Lars had a decent race to come in P4 and Varin fought his way up into P5. Abhi who has started well, faded to finish P6. Jayden finished P7 and Shania in P8. Luke would set the fastest time of the day in Sportsman with a 37.185s. The top 6 finishers all set lap times in the 37s ranging from 37.185 to 37.848s. The racing in this class is really getting more competitive as the rookie drivers get settled in.
In Rotax Mini Heat 1, Axl Garcia continued his winning streak to clinch victory. Reinaldo was able to get around Marc to finish P2. While Marc and Reinaldo were not able to keep pace with Axl, they had a very close race of their own. In Heat 2, Axl got around Marc and then Reinaldo a lap later. He was not troubled and finished in P1 by a narrower margin than before of 5.767s. Reinaldo would take P2 and Marc, P3. In the Final, Axl was off like a bullet and took the win by a margin of 16.990s and dipping into the 34s laptimes with a 34.787s. This was Axl’s 11th win…..that’s right 11th win in a row! Reinaldo and Marc were locked in a battle behind with Marc stalking Reinaldo, waiting to make his move which came on the final lap. Marc moved down the inside in turn 1 and got around Reinaldo. Reinaldo passed him back in the back hairpin though. Reinaldo would take P2 and Marc P3.
In LO206 Masters Heat 1, polesitter Anil Singh drove a masterful race from start to finish to take his maiden victory. He was never at risk of losing the lead as Brandon Singh and Joshua Deonarinesingh were busy swapping places or defending. Joshua finished P2 and Brandon P3. Kasey Ramoutar who had a less-than-ideal qualifying session gradually made his way up the order to finish 4th. Stocklyn Phillip blasted through the field to finish P5 and Shivir Mahabir back in competition action settled back in to finish 6th. Also back from a break as Darrel Singh who finished P7. Jason Ross, Logan Ross’ dad acquitted himself well with a P8 finish and Aaron Achan and Vaughn battled through the race to finish P9 and P10 respectively. Christopher Wong was a DNF.
In Heat 2, Brandon and Joshua charged through the field to go P1 and P2 respectively. It would stay that way to the end. Anil Singh also made it through to finish P3. All three of them were in the 38s. Kasey had a brilliant run against Shivir and they finished P4 and P5 respectively. While Darrel Singh lost ground early he drove like a beast to work his way back through the order for a P6 finish followed closely by Stocklyn. Aaron and Vaughn ended their race early but they were still classified as finishers on account of the number of laps completed. So was Jason Ross behind them. Chistopher Wong was a DNF again.
In the 15-lap Final, Anil lost his lead early to Joshua and Brandon. Then Brandon got around Joshua to take the lead. Brandon took the chequered flag and the victory lap and Joshua finished in P2 with Anil finishing in P3, 2/10ths behind Josh. Kasey and Shivir were at it again with some great battles which saw Kasey pass Shivir through the exit of the front chicane. He didn’t have to defend after that and finished P4 with Shivir in P5. Stocklyn got the better of Darrel in this race to finish P6 with Darren P7. Aaron, Christopher, Jason and Vaughn all finished a lap down and were classified in that order.
In Rotax Senior Heat 1, Ben checked out early with Naomi on his heels but lap by lap he carved out a growing lead. Alex hounded Naomi for the entire race and the pair traded places with Alex taking P2 at the flag. Naomi was in P3 and Adam came home P4. The top trio set best times of 33.023s, 33.173s and 33.225s respectively.
In the reverse grid, Ben got around Naomi and Alex early and was gone. It was the same story again between Alex and Naomi. Positions traded throughout the race but Alex would finish P2 and Naomi P3. Adam was a DNF.
In the Final, a 4-horse race turned into a 2-horse duel when Alex was unable to compete because he was too ill and had to leave the Event and Adam was unable to complete more than a few laps because of technical issues. Ben pushed really hard to keep some distance in front of Naomi but she stuck it out the entire race their best times being 32.517s and 32.729s. Ben won and Naomi was P2.
The prizegiving was delayed while the Officials discussed the Sportsman and the Cadets Finals following which the prizegiving ceremony was presided over by Race Director Ainsley. This Event’s trophies were kindly sponsored by the Fides Limited and for this Event, the Driver of the Day Trophy was awarded to Matias Morton-Gittens.
Stay tuned for more racing action when karting continues next at Wallerfield on Sunday 8th September for Championship Event #6.
Event Results
LO206 Cadets
1st Jonathan Charan; 2nd Nialan Seecharan Jnr; 3rd Kiran Bhimsingh; 4th Logan Ross; 5th Ethan Charan.
LO206 Sportsman
1st Aran Sharma; 2nd Matias Morton-Gittens; 3rd Luke Chong-Ashing; 4th Lars Newallo; 5th Abhishek Ramdeen; 6th Varin Bhimsingh; 7th Shania Persad; 8th Jayden Ali
Rotax Mini
1st Axl Garcia; 2nd Reinaldo Naipaul; 3rd Marc Chong-Ashing
LO206 Masters
1st Brandon Singh; 2nd Anil Singh; 3rd Joshua Deonarinesingh; 4th Kasey Ramoutar; 5th Shivir Mahabir; 6th Stocklyn Phillip; 7th Darrel Singh; 8th Aaron Achan; 9th Jason Ross; 10th Vaughn Maharaj; 11th Christopher Wong
Rotax Senior
1st Benjamin Mahon; 2nd Naomi Garcia; 3rd Alex Sharma; 4th Adam Mustapha
For detailed results including laptimes check out this link
