Jacqueline Alexis, PRO of TTRC

Barry Mckenzie, left and Barry Samaroo, right with TTRC PRO Jackie Alexis after collecting their second place trophies.

Barbadian team James Betts/Jeremy Gonsalves in Group 2-N took the podium finish on July 20 in T&T Rally Club (TTRC) fourth Championship High Speed Stages Rally. A mere 82 hundredths of a second separated him from the local drivers Barry Mckenzie/Barry Samaroo, who took second place and one minute 1.170 seconds later, came Ainsley Lochan/Robert Dumas, contender for 2008 champion driver in Preysal.

The next event scheduled for Saturday (August 30) at the same Preysal location, is expected to be quite thrilling as a different stage configuration is yet again planned for the enjoyment of the rally drivers and spectators.

“I would like to get the same results (as July 20), the car is working very well – Barry and Ainsley are the fastest in group A. I also have to contend with Dean (his countryman) so I am hoping for the best, anything can happen. I hope Barry and Ainsley put on new driving shoes, cause they’ll need it this rounds,” said Betts.

Mckenzie in a short interview, indicated that the July 20 event was “a very close competition, one of the keenest I have competed in 2008. The eventual winner, James from Barbados, is a very experienced driver and it was a pleasure competing against him and Ainsley Lochan. I look forward to redeeming myself at the next event.”

Preparing for August 30 is uppermost in his mind.

“Our team will spend more time setting up our suspension to ensure that we are competitive on the surfaces encountered at the last event,” said McKenzie.

The 2WD group is certainly not to be left out of the excitement as co-contender for 2008 champion driver was ousted by Robert Cadiz, who advised that “We were very pleased at the last win. The conditions were very difficult and we managed to pull off a very close win against ‘Mr Consistent’ (Rezan Mohammed) who has been impossible to beat all year. For the next event we are hoping for wet conditions again which seems to give us a slight advantage over the more powerful cars. As for the upcoming battle with Rezan; I hope he knows it’s about to get very crowded at the top because we coming hard for ‘Zig Zag to Independence’.”

Rezan “Mr Consistent” Mohammed was very optimistic in his outlook for the TTRC/Stag/Ultra/Illuminat High Speed Stages Rally - Zig Zag to Independence - which starts at 12.30 pm.

“Robert drove well at the last event, he has improved his skills and his car is working well. I have to ensure that my car is 100 percent ready and he will have to try hard to catch us. You have to give them a ‘lil’ booster and by affording him the opportunity of a win last event, there is an injection of some challenge and encouragement. However, there may be a wild card at the next event if Fawaz Mohammed and Darrel Ramesar compete, the win is literally up for grabs and it’s anybody’s guess with conditions as they are.”