TTRC Great Independence Rally Article and results

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TTRC’s Great Independence Rally
By Jacqueline Alexis, Club PRO

The unconquerable duo of Lochan/Dumas in their STAG/ULTRA/JOSEF/OAKLEY sponsored EVO9 won the Great Independence Rally on Sunday 30th August.

<Cedar Park> coined by the TTRC President for their 5th High Speed Stages Rally, was a combination of explosive gravel and tarmac action at 2 locations – Cedar Hill, Princes Town in the morning followed by Saith Park, Chaguanas in the afternoon into dusk.

Eager competitors took part in the 5 runs of the 5 km Cedar Hill gravel stage with Robert Cadiz’s Hyundai Scoupe as Car ‘0’ and an EVO 7 as Car ’00’ driven by Gregory Solis/Travis Hosein and Latiff Khan and Ryan Khanpradie respectively. Solis had sold the Hyundai Scoupe to young Cadiz, who was honoured to have Solis – cancer survivor – drive it at the event. Khan, an experienced driver, is thinking of competing in earnest.

Barry Mckenzie and Barry Samaroo (Barry x 2 team) who have been experiencing some mechanical hard luck over the last few events, returned to the arena in their ULTRA/RALLYMAC EVO6 with a bang and bested Lochan’s time with an aggregate 23-second differential after the 1st two forward runs. His average time was 3 minutes 39 seconds and he was in top position at the end of the Cedar Hill stage

Robert Cadiz and Jason Costelloe were experiencing some mechanical issues with their TROPICAL POWER / TOTAL LUBRICANTS EVO 8 at the start of the event but clocked 3 minutes and 54 seconds in the last 2 reverse runs. Father and son – Anthony and Michael Heerah’s fastest time was 4 minutes 21 seconds in their Subaru.

The 2WD category divided into 2 groups, was also exciting to follow. Rezan ‘Mr. Consistent’ Mohammed’s average time in his bright yellow SHELL/VIGOURADE sponsored Mivec Colt, was 4 minutes 6 seconds, overshadowing his arch-rival – Darrel Ramesar / Adam Archer who was forced to retire after the 1st stage with a broken gear box. Donald Gopaul / Michael Dinnoo competed in 3 events thus far and have been doing well. Again, Gopaul did not disappoint and his CASTROL sponsored Starlet came 19 seconds after Mohammed at the end of Cedar Hill.

Roger Mckenzie and Joshua Plaza in their RALLYMAC/EVO Signs sponsored RunX was 35 seconds after Gopaul, clocking an average time of 4 minutes 17 seconds. Ansel Ali / Kender Nicholas in their HYDRATECH/SHERWYN WILLIAMS/ALI’s GARAGE Mazda 323, Franklyn Seegobin/ Graveney Dindial’s Corolla and Zak Waddell /Luis Monroy’s delightful and re-painted Super Seven, finished in 22:18 minutes, 23:07 minutes and 36:08 minutes respectively. Waddell got lost a few times but rallied on and found his way back to the fold.

The competitors, officials and marshal convoy made their way to Saith Park where began the tarmac section of the day’s schedule. Chaguanas once again, welcomed the Rally Club into their borough, where the main streets were closed off to accommodate the event. Her Worship, Mayor Natasha Navas, arrived at 4:00pm with Satish Ramroop and met the Club President and was introduced to the drivers and co-drivers. Surrounded by media representatives eager to see her get into one of the cars and cameras clicking away, she began the drive thru in Car ‘00’ and then took her inaugural rally run strapped and wearing a helmet, in that same car driven by one of the Club’s honorary members, Ralph Ramdeo.

There were also 4 invited guests, who are all experienced drivers from other motor sport affiliations – Gerard Carrington, Tanko Baboolal, Nizam Mohammed and Chris Ackee. James Harris/ Craig Sumair in their Tropical Engineering Nissan B13 could not start Cedar Hill but made sure to fix the problem to start Saith Park.

The atmosphere was charged with excitement as the spectators jostled each other for space. The Chaguanas Community Centre was transformed into a Service Park with multi-coloured tents. A STAG bar was erected on the compound where the resident DJ had also set up. TriniTuner and TrinTurbo phototogs, Leslie Sweetman and his crew of Locally Grown Video (LVG), were locating themselves in choice positions to capture some of the expected action.

Nattily dressed Full Throttle girls and ULTRA girls mingled with competitors and on-lookers in the Service Park and the Mayor was offered some Full Throttle Energy Drink as she came out of her ride.

4 runs in the Saith Park environs would be made with doughnuts on Ramsaran Street much to the delight and screams of the crowd. A disappointed team of Mckenzie and Samaroo – Cedar Hill winners, could not begin this section due to a blown head gasket.

All other competitors put on a magnificent show to a very appreciative audience, with drifting around the corners and going as fast as possible within a controlled environment. There was a break to allow some darkness to seep in for the rally cars to strap on their light pods.

Lochan / Dumas was the eventual winner of the Mayor’s Cup and Overall Winner of the event, well deserving of the accolades.

The TTRC thanks all sponsors, competitors, event organizers, officials and marshals, media and photographers and everyone who in any way, contributed to the success of this event.

The next rally occurs on Sunday 27th September at Cedar Hill and on Saturday 24th October, the Club will be taking their final rally to Tobago - Rally Festival - sponsored by the THA.

RESULTS

2WD Category: group 2-3

1st - Donald Gopaul and Michael Dinnoo - 23 minutes 59 seconds
2nd – Roger Mckenzie and Joshua Plaza - 24 minutes and 34 seconds
3rd - Zak Waddell and Luis Delgado Monroy - 39 minutes and 9 seconds

2WD Category: group 2-4

1st - Rezan Mohammed and Arshad Mondro - 23 minutes and 40 seconds
2nd- Ansel Ali and Kender Nicholas - 25 minutes and 27 seconds
3rd - Franklyn Seegobin and Graveney Dindial - 26 minutes and 20 seconds

4WD Category

1st - Ainsley Lochan and Robert Dumas - 21 minutes and 26 seconds
2nd - Robert Cadiz and Jason Costelloe - 23 minutes and 26 seconds
3rd - Anthony and Michael Heerah - 25 minute and 30 seconds

Overall Winners

1st - Ainsley Lochan and Robert Dumas - 21 minutes and 26 seconds
2nd - Robert Cadiz and Jason Costelloe - 23 minutes and 26 seconds
3rd - Rezan Mohammed and Arshad Mondro - 23 minutes and 40 seconds

Best Team

Team Mitsubishi - Ainsley Lochan and Robert Dumas / Rezan Mohammed and Arshad Mondro

Winners of Mayor’s Cup

1st - Ainsley Lochan and Robert Dumas - 2 minutes and 51 seconds
2nd - Donald Gopaul and Michael Dinnoo - 2 minutes 58 seconds
3rd - Zak Waddell and Luis Monroy - 3 minutes and 1 second