Barring horseracing that is perennially heavily subscribed and the regional phenomenon that is the Caribbean Premier League (CPL), local motorsport is quickly growing to be one of the biggest household names in Guyana with drag racing, specifically, reaching new heights in 2019 with the steady growth expected to continue in 2020.
The Guyana Motor Racing and Sports Club (GMR&SC) under the Rameez Mohamed led executive committee invested millions into the development of drag racing in 2018 and continued in 2019 with most of those funds coming from contributions from the corporate community and the numerous competitors that love the sport.
Those investments include the extension of the drag strip from 1000 feet to a full quarter-mile, the construction of a launch pad, construction of pits and the development of roadways to allow ease of access to the staging area.
And the club is beginning to see some positive returns on investments made. On March 24, last year, round one of the 2019 Drag Championship emerged as arguably the biggest Drag race meet competed in Guyana.
Drag C/Ship round one
A couple thousand fans flocked to South Dakota Circuit’s Drag race strip in droves of vehicles to witness the first drag meet that featured a full quarter mile strip and a launch pad at the Timehri venue.
The fans that occupied the stands, barricades and fences were also keen to see Team Mohamed’s new Ekanoo/Magnus GTR (Godzilla) car but some transmission problems didn’t allow the car to compete.
However, at the end of the day, Team Mohamed’s remained the undisputed King of the Strip, after another outstanding performance from the then record holding Nissan GTR ‘Goliath’ (the second of thr
ee GTRs owned by the Mohamed’s) made light work of Peter Daby’s Toyota Supra in the unlimited class. And, the fans were highly satisfied under the cool, overcast conditions.
Daby of S&D Performance had proven formidable in the 10 seconds class, while Damian Persaud out of the same team, picked up a win in the 11 seconds bracket.
The Dutchmen were well represented after Eric Watchman (14 seconds) and Raymond John (13 seconds) notched wins for the Surinamese to fuel the fire of drag racing rivalry between the neighbouring countries.
In his return to the drag strip after missing the entire 2018 drag season, Mark ‘Mad Max’ Menezes notched wins in both the 600cc and 1000cc classes to underline his dominance on the motorbike.
Drag C/Ship round two
Team Mohamed’s remained planted at the top of the drag racing throne in Guyana after winning yet another Drag Race meet; this time the second round of the drag championship that sped off June 23 in lush sunshine at the South Dakota Circuit in Timehri before ending in gloom with rainfall.
Piloted by Terrence Cox, Godzilla, the race group’s third GT-R reset the quarter-mile drag strip record to an impressive 8.09 seconds. And, it was noted that that the machine could have gone even faster according to the driver, “It just kept going quicker and quicker. I am so sad that we had this rain, I am positive that the car could’ve gone in the high seven (seconds). We can expect these cars to go quicker (both the black and white GTR) and with two new engines expected we are going to come back with a lot more firepower this August in the International Drag race.”
Although the rain put a damper on the event, almost all the respective classes saw their winners being named. The unofficial results for the day are as follows:
– 16 second – Marlon Wilson
– 15 second – Ramesh Persaud
– 14 second- Romeo Singh
– 13 second- Shan Seejattan
– 12 second – TBD
– 11 second – Krishna Jettoo
– 10 second – Peter Daby
Unlimited – Team Mohamed’s/Terrence