The TTRC launched it's 2010 Stages Championship Season opener in grand style in Preysal on Sunday February 28. With a record entry for a local rally (24) and a huge crowd on hand, Sunday's stages had all the ingredients from the start. The sunny weather was simply a bonus. Although the dust became a factor and the intervals between cars moved to 2 minutes, spectators were hardly wanting for action given the latest stage design in Preysal allowing cars to be seen for almost a full minute on each run. All 6 stages were completed and although the super special at the end had to be cut short on account of the blinding dust conditions, the day's events were enjoyed by all who attended. By all accounts the TTRC Stages Season has gotten off to a fine start and with RT10 a mere 3 weeks away, Rally fans will surely be in for a treat.

The event was won with a blistering performance from John 'Penti' Powell in his new Group N Shell Helix Ultra Evo IX. Alongside his usual co-driver Nicholas Telfer, John began the day trailing Lochan/Dumas by 2 tenths of a second. This would be the order of the day with times between the 2 teams differing by nothing less than a second. Lochan/Dumas in their NP Ultra-STAG-Joseph's Sports Bar-Oakley sponsored Evo IX had victory in their reach (by 1 sec) up to the last stage when a busted axle became responsible for them losing 6 seconds to Powell/Telfer. Lochan and his returning co-driver Dumas would have to accept a hard fought 2nd place. Mckenzie/Samaroo were able to match the top pace for a few runs and even win the highest jump title, but their Rallymac Evo VI was simply not up to the fight it seems, and they would eventually settle for a very respectable 3rd place overall on the day.With 1st and 2nd place Grp A going to Lochan and Mckenzie respectively, 3rd place in Grp A went to Vishal Dhanraj and Richard Ramsingh in their Subaru Impreza. Dhanraj missed out most of last year due to his decision to race in Barbados and it was nice seeing the high flying Subaru back on the track.

Sunday was also a day for the rookies and the new vehicles. Stuart 'Sobe' Johnson and his new co-driver Lee Quesnel were most impressive of the rookies with a fantastic start to rallying in their Grp N Subaru STI (PCB-45). They looked calm from the start and frequently posted stage times an average of 10sec behind the leaders. Sobe finished 4th overall and 2nd on the day in class. Robert Cadiz and Jason Costelloe shut down about 100ft from the start of the first stage with a turbo line coming loose but were able to fight back and take 3rd in Grp N in their Tropical Power/TOTAL/BF Goodrich/Coors Light Evo VIII. With Sobe proving he can run with the big boys on his first day out, Cadiz will have to figure out a new game plan if he is to keep pace in Grp N for RT10. It was great to see a newly painted over Tanko Baboolal make it to his second ever Stages event and hopefully he can repeat the consistency of his time in Tobago come the international. Gobin Mahadeo and Justin Gittens arrived for their first rally in a great looking Subaru Impreza STI and he managed to finish all stages and as he put it...'have the time of his life' in the process. Gobin has definitely been bitten by the rally bug and we hope to see come out stronger for RT10.

The much anticipated debut of the Silver Monster Renault Clio and the recently built over Mitsubishi Colt unfortunately did not live up to the hype with both vehicles experiencing mechanical difficulties on the day. The Clio driven by Jerome 'Bench' Lum Hung has all the goodies to perform and the same can be said for the newly re-built Colt driven by Fawaz Mohammed, but they must work hard to sort out the new-car bugs before RT10. Both drivers are also coming from a 4WD background and may also find that the transition to 2WD will take some getting used to.

The top 2WD for the day would have gone to Rezan Mohammed had he not suffered on Stage 5. His Shell Helix-Vigorade Mitsubishi Colt was leading by 20 seconds before a failure on Stage 5 forced a penalty that eventually would prove to be the difference against a once again formidable Castrol team of Gopaul/Dinnoo in their Toyota Starlet. As the 2009 rookie of the year Donald Gopaul has returned to his winning ways taking top 2WD honours as well as 1st in the 2-3 class. Bobby Marshall from Jamaica was suffered a broken axle on the first stage which essentially cost him the rally as his times for the rest of the day were good for first place in 2-3. Bobby's Rum Bar-Castrol-Singer sponsored Mitsubishi Colt promised to be a force before the event and it has lived up to the hype. If he can avoid mechanical problems he will surely be knocking on Donald's door all season long. Rounding out Grp 2-3 Zak Waddell and Luis Monroy surely surprised even themselves when he emerged 3rd place in his Lotus Super 7 Kit car which ran very consistent all day. Grp 2-4 was taken by Rezan Mohammed and Arshad Mondro, with Ansel Ali taking 2nd place. Ali/Nicholas would have taken 1st place in 2-4 but a blown engine mere yards from the finish on the last stage of the day forced them to take 2nd place in 2-4. Fawaz Mohammed in his new Mitsubishi Colt could only manage 3rd place in 2-4 after problems on Stage 4.

When the dust settled on Stage 6 it was time for the Super Special. This event was much anticipated but unfortunately it was brought to an end before it truly got underway as the dust was blinding. The crowd was treated to an amazing site however with Mckenzie and Powell in an all out drag race to the center loop before Powell eventually had to pull up on account of the dust.

A major thanks goes out to all the marshals and volunteers who braved the dust on Sunday. Your love for the sport is one thing but your commitment to getting the job done deserves special mention. Thanks again to our sponsors STAG, NP Ultra, Tropical Power, Dasani Water, Full Throttle, and Illuminat. And of course a big thanks to all our spectators. See you in March

Rally Trinidad awaits and the local boys are surely improving. The conditions will be dry and loose, and with the region's top drivers about to arrive make sure of one thing - Don't Miss It! RT10 - March 24 - 29