GMR&SC Drag ChampionshipRound two promises to be an epic showdown

Apr 02, 2019 Sports

There is much speculation on what the date for round two of the Guyana Motor Racing and Sports Club (GMR&SC) Drag Championship will be but what is known is that the anticipated meet will be worth the wait.

Fans at the starting line to see Derrick Jaisingh’s machine’s power.

On Thursday, the executive committee of the club will hold a meeting and then and there at the Thomas Lands and Albert Street Office, the date will be decided.
On March 23 last, round one of the Championship had seen what was described by many devout drag racing fans, as the biggest turnout they have ever witnessed at the South Dakota Circuit’s Drag Strip and this was influenced majorly by the investment of the GMR&SC and their sponsors along with the competitors who pour millions into their machines.
Last season, the GMR&SC had set out to construct a launch pad to allow more powerful cars to compete at full potential along with extending the drag strip from 1000ft to a full quarter mile; a project that cost in excess of $30million, and just a week before the new drag season got underway the project was completed.
Platinum sponsor of the club, Mohamed’s Enterprise, had contributed handsomely once again to the project, while the contributions of BM Soat Auto Sales, Motor Trend Service Centre, Delco Ice Factory, Trans-Pacific Motor Spares, Supreme Ventures, Air Services Limited, PowerLine Auto, Cyril’s Taxi, Omega Brokers, E-Networks, Prem’s Electrical, Miracle Optical, Choke Gas Station and Super Bet, R. Kissoon Contracting Services and Top Brandz Distributors were also vital to the project and event’s success.

Syed Mobarakhali’s Toyota Verosa was awarded ‘best burnout’.

Adding to the hype of round one was the acquisition of the former record breaking Ekanoo/Magnus Nissan GTR, by Team Mohamed’s racing that are yet to concede a loss at the drag strip at Timehri, fueled excitement amongst the racing community. The white GTR, the third of its kind in Team Mohamed’s fleet of machines was not so long ago the fastest GTR in the world, setting a time of 7.3 seconds across the quarter mile at a top speed of 206mph.
Although there was no need for the machine to compete despite some transmission issues, its sister, the GTR Goliath, kept the Team’s flag flying high after outsprinting Peter Daby’s RX-7 in the final of the unlimited class.
Mad Max returns
The club has set out to create a safe space for everyone to compete and thus had a major call out for novice riders to come out and compete both in circuit and drag races, and at round one for both events there was decent turnouts by the bikers.
However, in the drags, none of the competitors found it easy getting past Mark ‘Mad Max’ Menezes, who had taken a one year hiatus from the strip, as he dominated in both the 600cc and 1000cc classes.
International competitors
The first round saw a few competitors from Suriname with Eric Watchman (14 seconds) and Raymond John (13 seconds) being able to leave ‘the land of many waters’ with victories and round two may see a larger invasion with competitors from the twin island republic of Trinidad and Tobago (T&T) also showing interest.
Whichever date is chosen for round two, it will be full of excitement. The leaders in the respective time brackets after round one of the championships are as follows:
16 seconds – Vicky Persaud
15 seconds – Ramesh Persaud
14 seconds – Eric Watchman (Suriname)
13 seconds – Raymond John (Suriname)
12 seconds – Avi Samaroo
11 seconds – Damian Persaud
10 seconds – Peter Daby
Unlimited – Terrence Cox (Team Mohamed’s)
600 cc bikes – Mark ‘Mad Max’ Menezes
1000cc bikes – Mark ‘Mad Max’ Menezes