Defending and three-time champion John Powell of Jamaica will be up against 32 of the region's best racing teams when the T&T Rally Club hosts Rally Trinidad '11 at venues around the country from March 31 to April 3. This was announced during a press conference at NP House in Port-of-Spain yesterday.The series, now in its eighth year, is the signature event of the local motorsport calendar and will cover over 150km of the region's longest and best-rated gravel surfaces.Powell, joined by co-driver Nicholas Telfer in their Mitsubishi Evo X, will be up against the likes of Jamaicans Gary Gregg (Ford Focus 2005), Jeffrey Panton (Ford Focus 2000) and Bobby Marshall (Mitsubishi Colt), Barbados' Sean Gill (Suzuki SX4) and T&T's Rezan Mohammed (Mitsubishi Evo IX), David Coelho (Mitsubishi Evo IX) and Donald Gopaul (Toyota Starlet). Gregg and Panton have both won Rally Jamaica on multiple occasions while Marshall was the 2004 Rally Barbados champion.Speaking to the media yesterday, Powell said that the organisers had assembled the most accomplished group of regional drivers possible.
"To me, this year has the best calibre of drivers in the Caribbean. The competition is awesome. Panton and Gregg are two phenomenal drivers and I wish I was spectating just so that I could watch them drive. It's going to be extremely difficult to beat them. I'm in a slower car than they are but I'm more familiar with the courses so that should level the playing field."He added that his plan would be to drive with caution throughout the series."The stages are quite long, the longest gravel stages in the Caribbean, so during a rally like this the strategy has to be to not make any mistakes. If you have a spin, a flat tire or a shut off, that all causes you a lot of time, and it's very difficult to make it up."
In all, there will be five separate categories: WRC, Group 3-A (4WD), Group 2-N (4WD), Group 2-4 (2WD), Group 2-3 (2WD).The series will begin with a Scrutineering session in Movietowne, Port-of-Spain on March 31, followed by an opening ceremony at the Hasely Crawford Stadium the next day. On April 2, the action will move South where the team's will cover 115km in two events on the Cedar Hill and Borde Narve courses. The drivers will return to the same venue on April 3 to cover 40 km on shortened versions of the courses with the finale, the Mayor's Cup in Saith Park, Chaguanas, taking place later that day.For maps of the courses visit www.rallytrinidad.com.
Schedule
March 31: Scrutineering at Movietowne Port-of-Spain Car Park; 2-7 pm
April 1: Opening Ceremony at Hasely Crawford Stadium, Mucurapo; 5-10 pm
April 2: 13 km stage at Cedar Hill and 10km stage at Bronte; 8 am-5 pm
April 3: 7 km stage at Cedar Hill and 4 km stage at Bronte; 8 am-2 pm, Mayor's Cup at Saith Park, Chaguanas; 3 pm-7 pm
