QUARTER MILE records tumbled at Thicketts, St Philip, last Saturday at the Barbados Association of Dragsters and Drifters: The Rematch. Roger “His Hotness” Mayers, driving the Chefette/Digicel/Pennzoil/Illusion Graphics/Hankook WR Ford Focus WRC, erased the old quarter mile mark of 10.189 seconds set last year by Suleiman “Sol” Esuf.
Mayers posted a new mark of 9.945 seconds in his only run at the race meet as his car developed a mechanical problem which sidelined him for the rest of the day.
However, after Esuf and his works crew got the ProSales Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX ready in time for a single run, he lowered the the mark set by Mayers earlier in the day as he posted a time of 9.788 seconds which sent the crowd wild.
The events of The Rematch has set the tone for an all-important meeting in June between the two drivers, as well as the other drivers in the same group. Mathew “DMZ” Forde, at the wheel of the Stag/Forde Auto Repairs Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VII also turned in a personal best when he recorded a 10.7 clocking to hold on to third spot, nosing out another in-form driver, Barry Gilkes, in a similar machine, who posted a time of 10.962 seconds.
Another highly-fancied driver, Anthony-Ramon Archer, in the LIME Nissan GTiR looked good but only returned a time of 11.066 seconds. He was fifth overall, pushing David Balgobin, who was in a Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VI, into sixth place after he was timed at 11.244 seconds.
Other good drives came from Ricky Carter in a Mitsubishi Mivec, whose best time was 11.338 seconds; Jamal Sobers with a time of 11.381 seconds; Dwayne Browne who stopped the clock at 11.932 seconds and Sherlock Payne, who returned a time of 11.949 seconds.
Sammy Cumberbatch, in a BME, who was returning to action after a two-year lay-off, got among the fast men to record a time of 12.199 seconds. He admitted that he was a little rusty, while rookie Kerwin “Pickers” Scantlebury in a Honda Del Sol managed a time of 15.542 seconds at the bottom of the table.
Among the motorcycles, competition was equally as fierce as record-holder Kelvin “Bird” Daniel on a Kawasaki, topped the table when he posted a new time of 9.14 seconds. The previous mark was 9.83 which he had set in June last year.
Sheridan Mohammad, who has been improving with every ride, had to be content with second spot with a time of 9.623 on a Kawasaki while Fabien Reeves posted a time of 10.23 seconds to be third.
