Ramsingh and Rahaman top performers at Dexterity; GMR&SC heartened by female participation

Dexterity action returned in style last weekend as the Guyana Motor Racing and Sports Club (GMR&SC) revived the agility-based form at the National Track and Field Center parking lot.

The afternoon action on April 11 was compounded by a heartening field of new and established drivers, with GMR&SC President Mohamed Shairaz Roshandin contending that the club is heartened by the support.

“It was very positive to see so many participants come out to the event. We had just over 40 registered competitors, and about six or seven of them were female. That, by itself, was heartening to see the female competitors come out.”

In the 0-1500cc class, Shemroy Ramsingh won ahead of Paul Jiwanram and Nyron Maraj, while the 1501-1600cc division saw Ryan Rahaman, Joshua Ali, and Saif Roshandin finish in that order.

The 1601-2000cc category competitors included Sharaf Roshandin, Budhave Singh, and Ravin Ramotar finishing in that order, with a tense battle in the final course determining Daniel Scott as the narrow winner over M.S. Roshandin and Shan Seejattan.

The Female Class highlighted talented women racers with Ashley Persaud, Tejani Arjune and Mariam Paul finishing in that order.

In two-wheel action, the Kids Cadet (motorbike) class saw close racing between eventual winner Lashion Lewis and Joshua Holder, while the 49-250cc motorbike category saw Elan Rahaman finish ahead of Salim Azeez.

The event saw competitors running the gauntlet through three preset obstacle courses set up around the parking lot using construction cones.

The competitor who completed it in the fastest time was declared the winner of the round, with the times from all three rounds added together, and the fastest time declared the winner.

The first, called Lazy eight, saw competitors drawing two figure eights and completing a 360 spin before crossing the finish line.

The second saw competitors complete a slalom, then simulate forward and reverse parking procedures before returning through the slalom to the finish.

The final course featured a head-to-head slalom of two competitors’ side by side. Competitors saw their times increase by two seconds for each cone hit on the obstacle course, with an additional 10 seconds added for going the wrong way or missing an instruction.

Auto Show brings different twist

And where the dexterity left off, the auto expo and show picked up. A showcase of automotive culture, energy, and creativity, showcasing the other side of car culture was what it brought to those who had an inkling for more off-track action.

Roshandin said: “We had a section for everyone here. We had our classic car guys who have done restoration of antique pieces and as a matter of fact, three of those cars came all the way from Berbice and I want to personally thank those guys.”

“There were also exhibitions for guys who were interested in engine swaps and mechanical modifications, you know, the mechanical side of things and we saw a lot persons gravitating to that section of things.”

Apart from the expo, the drifters took full advantage of the crowds on display to showcase their craft and they did not disappoint.

A daring display of car control, shredded tires and smoke filled the air during each of their sessions, with fans hanging on the edge of the barriers to catch a whiff of the action.

Aside from that, the music and sound clash that followed topped off a night of unforgettable action from the ‘West Side.’

“All in all, I think we had a good night of racing and off course action to engage our fans and its definitely something we will be looking into doing more of,” Roshandin concluded.