Battle of speed at South Dakota today

For once, there is a slight uncertainty as to who will walk away with the title of ‘King of Speed’ at South Dakota today.

The uncertainty however, is most minuscule since it is hard to see anyone dismantling the dynasty of the prolific Team Mohamed’s and their reliable GT-Rs, driven by Terence Cox.

His challengers though, are growing and they are getting faster.

Simply flash back to June, when Trans Pacific’s Altezza, driven by Rameez Mohamed, gave the black GT-R (Goliath) a thrill in an exhibition race. Albeit, the Altezza jumped the line, it showed the gap was closing.

Well, toppling the white GT-R (Godzilla) will be an arduous task since that 2400-2500 horsepower machine will be something to overhaul; added to that it is an All-wheel drive which makes it most suited to the conditions at South Dakota.

Its record time of 8.099 seconds was unofficially broken at practice on Saturday by the rail car of Trinidad and Tobago, which is understood to have clocked 7.9 seconds.

But don’t put all your eggs in one basket yet, since Cox indicated to News Room Sport, once the weather holds, the car has the capacity to go well into the low seven-second bracket. It all smells for thrilling action.

And if you think that’s the only attraction, think again. Shawn Persaud is back and all reports are suggesting, he is faster than before. More so, he played a significant role in the preparation of the Deryck ‘Mad Dog’ Jaisingh’s Supra.

At Saturday’s practice, the car was already pushing 8.5 seconds.

Wait, there is more. Peter Daby’s second generation RX-7, along with the Mitsubishi Starion, which is powered by a Doge Hellcat V8 Engine, will be in the battle to stop Trinidadian Jagdeo ‘Mad Cow’ Seecharan of Trinidad and Tobago.

And last but certainly not least, Trinidadian Ian Atherly and his Kawasaki ZX-14, which has a record time of 8.5 seconds on the quarter mile, is tipped to defeat his Guyanese counterparts.

The organisers are asking persons to abide by the safety mechanisms in place to allow for an efficient and incident- free race meet, which is estimated to have over 100 registered competitors.

US$100 will go to the best burnout, compliments of GT Tuners and West Coast Customs Wash Bay, and US$100 to the fastest reaction, which is sponsored by Imran Auto Works.

Del Ice Co. will also award $100,000 to the winners of the 11-second and 12-second category. General tickets cost $2,000 each, VIP Tent $3,000, while children under 10 are admitted free. Start time is 09:00h

In partnership with the Guyana Motor Racing and Sports Club are: Mohamed’s Enterprise, B.M Soat, E-Networks, R. Kissoon Contracting, Deryck Jaisingh Trucking Service and Machinery Rentals, Prem’s Electrical, Trans-Pacific Auto Sales, Cyril’s Taxi, Blue Spring Water, Choke Gas Station, Miracle Optical, Tropical Shipping and Hand-in-Hand Insurance.