Kelvin “Bird” Daniel has confirmed that he is the fastest man on two wheels in Barbados.
And he stamped his authority on motor cycle racing when he did the double at last Sunday’s Barbados Association of Dragsters and Drifters (BADD) drag racing “Double Thriller” at Thickets, St Philip.
It was the final event of the club’s 2013 calendar, and Daniel, aboard the Bajan Motors Kawasaki ZX10, brushed aside the opposition and blasted his way to the top of the time sheets with 6.118 seconds for the eighth of a mile trip.
He also established a new mark for the quarter mile of 8.971 seconds in the event supported by Courtesy Garage, Castrol, A&R Electrical Service, Barbados Today, Goodyear Tyres and Tropical Batteries.
Pre-event favourite Learie Carasco, on a BMW S1000RR, Devon McCartney, on a Honda 1000RR and Ryan Beckles were second, third, and fourth fastest, respectively, on both segments of the meet.
Carasco’s time over the eighth of a mile run was 6.463 seconds, compared with 7.046 and 7.147 seconds for McCartney and Beckles, on a Kawasaki 1000. Their respective times were 9.751, 10.505 and 10.79 seconds for the quarter mile trip.
It was an awesome performance by Daniel, who had said earlier, that he was not daunted by the presence of the high-class cyclists on impressive machinery.
“I try to make sure that the bike is reliable and I am fit and ready for whatever the day might present,” Daniel said.
“I give God thanks for giving me the ability to stay the course and give an account of myself. I am satisfied with how the day went and [I am] looking forward to the next meet, whenever it may be set.”
Daniel burst on the scene at the first drag race meet at the same venue earlier this year when he clocked the fastest overall time of 9.83 seconds. He said it was a work in progress and thanked his “works crew’, sponsors and fans for their support.
“All I wanted to do was to be focused on the job ahead me – move the bike off the line, keeping power to the ground, without wasting any time and keeping an eye on what’s happening around me, including the competition – and it worked.
Among the cars, two drivers shared the honours. Suleiman “Sol” Esuf in the ProSales Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX only needed one run to put the quarter mile title out of the reach of everyone else when he returned a time of 10.131 seconds.
Mathew “DMZ” Forde, in the Forde Auto Services/Stag/GoodYear Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution V, led the way home with a time of 7.268 seconds over the eighth of a mile distance.
Forde also grabbed second spot behind Esuf over the quarter mile trip in 10.505 seconds.
Barry Gilkes, who was also in a Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution, returned a time of 10.483 seconds to be third, pushing Sean Fields in a Toyota Corolla into fourth spot, with a time of 11.519 seconds.
Over the eighth of a mile distance, Fields placed second with a time of 7.414 seconds, Gilkes was third in 7.752 seconds and Corey Stanford, in the Williams Equipment Toyota Corolla, took fourth with a time of 8.241 seconds.
