By Avenash Ramzan
It was built to be a showdown between Prakash Lachman’s Nissan Skyline GTR R33 of Suriname and Mohamed’s Enterprise’s two Nissan GTR powerhouses, but fate would have it a different way.
Lachman, who had boasted of ‘taking down’ the two local GTR’s, said his machine developed problems in the lead-up and opted to race his red Chevrolet Corvette C6, which was no competition for local drivers in the ‘Reaction’ Drags on Sunday at the South Dakota Circuit.
That left a mouth-watering clash between Mohamed’s two GTR’s, which turned out to be the showpiece event of the day. Competing in the Unlimited 7-seconds category, the two cars lined up against a backdrop of spectators holding nothing but gadgets to capture the moment.
The Nismo quickly opened a reasonable lead and seemed destined for the win, before the Goliath, powered by Josh Ramsey, stunned his rival and the spectators with a record-breaking performance.
The midnight blue Goliath literally flew pass the Nismo to record what is now the fastest time of 7.569 seconds at South Dakota, lowering its previous record of 8.2 seconds. The black Nismo finished 8.906 seconds.
Meanwhile, Shawn Persaud, who was impressive all day in his Toyota Caldina wagon, easily won the 8-second class, and also outlasted the GTR Goliath, albeit with a rolling start in the exhibition contest.
Suriname’s Vishal Ramcharran, who was later voted champion driver, was in a class of his own with his Toyota Mark X, winning the 9-second, 10-second and 11-second classes, while compatriot Raymond John, with his Toyota Chaser, won the 12-second division.
Guyanese Imran Khan made a successful defence of the 13-second class, while Sunil Singh won the 14-second and Devendra Persaud the 15-second.
The motor racing season will continue on April 2 when the Guyana Motor Racing and Sports club stages a local circuit race ahead of the opening leg of the Caribbean Motor Racing Championship in Jamaica on May 21.
