The Rahaman motor racing dynasty in Guyana and the Caribbean has been thrilling crowds over the years in their customary Ford line of cars and come Sunday at the Guyana Motor racing and Sports Club (GMR&SC) National Race of Champions Round Two, the father and son duo of Jad and Ryan will be aiming to keep up that tradition.
Jad will compete in the Group ‘2A’ category while his sibling Ryan vies in Group ‘2B’ and has most recently stepped up in the Group ‘3’ class.
At the last meet only Ryan was able to gain some amount of success in the Group ‘2B’ where he is a usual favourite for the checkered flag in his vintage Ford Escort.
But in the Group ‘3’, he was battered by Ravi Singh of Trinidad and Tobago who blistered the track to take two wins out of the three races driving his Mazda RX7.
The younger Ryan, considered the sport’s local wonder boy, had to settle for two second place spots out of three races since his car, a Ford Sierra, spun off the track on turn one.
But despite this, Ryan informed Stabroek Sport yesterday that they are looking forward for Sunday and both of his cars will be ready in time despite the late start to their preparation.
He added that they would not be able to make Saturday’s time trial due to an important family function and this will result in him having to start at the back of the grid.
“Well we got a lot of work going on to the cars right now because we started a bit late in our preparations but I think that we would be in good shape for Sunday. Unfortunately we would have to start at the back of the pack because we would not be going to the time trial on Saturday and this would cause us to make sure that things are running well on Sunday because it would be hard,” said the younger Rahaman. Ryan said that he is confident of another good showing in the Group ‘2B’ class since he would definitely need to work his way up to the front from the back of the grid and in this class he would need to keep a close eye on one of his closest rivals in Gavin Gouveia.
In Group ‘3’ he said a watchful eye will be kept on Kem Lall, Ravi Singh and Gavin Gayadin who are his nemesis.
Meanwhile the older Rahaman, Jad, said that he is also aiming to have a great day on Sunday and like his son, he too would have to start at the back of the pack because he will have to miss the time trial.
The Group 2A class at the last meet was turning out to be a promising showdown between Rahaman and his long time foe Chet Singh but that excitement could not live past the first race which was won by Singh.
In only the second race in that category, the two drivers were involved in an accident just after the start of the race in front of the club house.
Rahaman (Jad) was also disqualified for dangerous driving while the damage to Singh’s car was too extensive for him to continue in the meet.
The matter was then sent to the disciplinary committee and it was subsequently resolved.
According to the veteran driver, whose car was also damaged in the last collision, he is certain that his hard working team would get things in shape in time for Sunday so that they will have a day of quality racing.
The duo would like to acknowledge their sponsors, Duncan Batteries, Valvaline, Stag Beer, Gem Magazine, Sankar Auto Colour, Guysons Engineering and JR Burgers, to whom they are grateful for the support over the years.
