Good day class, today in History we will be learning about the Terrapin– a space frame single-seater whose primary objective since inception in 1969 was to compete in sprint and hill climb events. Designed by Allan Staniforth and Richard Blackmore the blueprints for the Terrapin was made available to the public to build their own at home.
CARS kicked off its first competition event for 2015 on March 8th at the Arima Race Club car park with the kind assistance of sponsor TriniTuner.com.
Head of Autocross, Trevor Van Sluytman, opted for a twist to the familiar old karting course. This time the course was run in reverse in an attempt to level the playing field for the rookies now entering the heat of competition. They had an excellent opportunity to observe their lap times and further hone their newly acquired skills, especially under mixed track conditions with varying grip levels.
While the rest of the nation was praying for rain, a not so small band of track day warriors were doing a celebratory sun-dance. The setting, of course, was the Arima Race Club car park, and the event was Solodex II, 2010.
The course was a devilish mix of fast sections and left-wheel murdering corners. Everyone had an opinion on this course, and everyone was watching to see who would shine under the 35 degree sun.
Twenty seven competitors came out to put their cars and themselves through the paces. The Open class saw Ryan Pinheiro returning with a point to prove with his Mitsubishi Evo. He was hounded all day by Damian Mahabir in his Evo 8, but Ryan managed to stay out front, and posted a winning time of 40.727, which also stood as fastest time of the day. The EPR class saw another pair of AWD cars, this time with Kevon Ramjohn winning in another Evo 8 over the Subaru STi of Chris Ackee.
The upset class as always was EP, with Amir Hosein in his Suzuki Ignis Sport battling it out with even more Evos. Pushing hard to stay out front, Amir even managed to spin his car 180 degrees into the finish box, much to the delight of the crowd! In the end though, Marc Williams narrowly edged him out for top honours. Shaun Mohammed rounded off the top three in his Kennicon Engineering Locost 7.
You would be forgiven if you thought you had accidentally stumbled into a scene from a Best Motoring DVD on Sunday February 21. The place was the Arima Race Club car park. The event was CARS’ first Solodex event for 2010.
For once there seemed to be more hype on the pits, than on the track! Among the assembled ranks of Evolution Lancers and Subaru WRX STIs was a pair of stunning Nissan GTRs. This hot on the heels of the Ferrari F430 that blasted around the track at CARS BYCC event in January. Hopefully the GTR owners will take a page from the Ferrari owner’s playbook and leave the tent and terrorise the track at the next event!
