SOLODEX 2
Sunday 29, April 2007

Pictures

The Action Heats Up!!
By Kevin Singh

Temperatures ran high on April 29, as the country recorded the hottest April in recorded history.  Not since the Caribs chased the Arawaks out of Arima has Santa Rosa seen that much heat.  There was heat of a different nature at the Santa Rosa Race Club though.  The heat of turbocharged Lancer Evolutions, Subaru STIs and burning rubber signaled what was to be the grandest Solodex event on record.

From as early as 10:00am, spectators began filling up the parking lot.  By noon, the road outside the venue was filling up as well.  On the inside, nineteen competitors were getting ready for action.  As is now the norm, the novice class (NE) was the largest, with six competitors stepping up to the line.  The stars of NE this time around, were the two lovely ladies, Tamara Seepersad and Sabrina Rampersad, piloting a B11 Sunny and a Honda Civic Hatch, respectively.  Tamara put her Sunny to good use, besting Sabrina by just over two seconds.  Outright winner of NE was Vishnu Charran, in his B14 Sunny, holding back Gurshwin Blacke in his Nissan Wingroad.  Rene Roberts in his Honda Civic rounded off the top three, and blocking a Nissan 1-2-3.

Next up was the GS class.  The members of GS were quick to point out that ‘GS’ does not mean ‘Go Slow’.  Sanjay Singh in his B11 Sunny did his best to prove that point, by taking top honours with a time of 103.264 seconds in his final run.  Kevin Singh failed to reply in his final run, and for the second event in a row, had to settle for second spot, with a time of 103.801.  It seems last year’s GS champion is not having such an easy time defending his title.  The upset of the class should have been Alan Rajkumar Maharaj, but he was sidelined with technical difficulties.  Third place was claimed by Shaun Mohammed who debuted his home-engineered ‘Locost’ Lotus Seven replica.

The HS class saw two entrants, since some of the regulars have moved up to ES.  Scott Dopson put down a time of 96.990 seconds over Rudi Singh’s 100.595.  In ES class, longtime veteran and past champion Wayne Hutchinson made a welcome return, and picked up where he left off, in first place.  He took his Suzuki Baleno to a comfortable win over the Wagonboyz Karl Winchester and Kerwin Charles in their Nissan Wingroads.  However, after weighing in on the scales, it was realized that the correct class for Wayne is ESP which had him finishing in second place behind Rover driver Vaughan Callendar.

The final and fastest class of the day was EP, with rivals Ryan Pinheiro and Barry Mykoo facing off in a battle of STI vs Evo.  With a change from his super-fast front wheel drive VW Golf GTi, Ryan launched his 4WD Subaru to a time of 87.170 in his first run.  He was unable to improve over that time, and nobody else did, for that matter.  Barry came within one second of him, as he took his Lancer Evolution to the limit, but had to settle for second place.  Ryan’s run also took fastest time of the day. 

While all this was going on, the pit area was being filled with Subaru STIs from the TSOC (Trinidad Subaru Owners Club) and hot Mitsubishis from the TME Mitsubishi club.  Adding to the eye candy was an AE86 Toyota Corolla with a rear wheel drive conversion.  Can you say DRIFFFFFFFFFFT?  The owner, popular drift-king Kerry John used Solodex 2 to debut his new machine, and amazed the crowd, both with the sheer pace of the car, and his ability to keep it under control.

Newcomers and veterans alike took the opportunity to have some fun, taking turns on the course during the ‘fun run’ session.  Evos, Subarus, Hondas, and everything in between took turns abusing their tyres and scaring passengers. 

With the championship now fully under way, all competitors are eagerly anticipating the next event, where some hope to extend their leads, while others are hoping for upsets.  Whichever way, all are guaranteed excitement, entertainment, action, and some god laughs.

Keep watching for further action…………..