BADD Ready for Festival of Speed
The 2017 edition of the Barbados Festival of Speed kicks off on Saturday October 14th at the Bushy Park circuit, running from 2PM to 10 PM. The event promises to be a showcase of local and international motoring talent.
The Barbados Association of Dragsters and Drifters has been given a 30-minute time slot for some local grudge races. Club Chairman Jason Downey remarks “We are very pleased to be a part of this event. BADD has consistently drawn the crowds to Bushy Park. Our aim for Saturday is to showcase the wide cross-section of machinery which our members compete in. We should have some very close racing for the fans. Once everything goes to plan, we would have these pairs run 3 times each”.
Seven pairs of drivers have been selected, covering the spectrum of the classes:
Rommel “Muffin” Alleyne (Alleyne’s Auto Revv Garage/Liqui Molly Toyota Corolla BZ Touring) will take on Damien “Ping” Johnson (Honda Civic Type R) in the clash of the naturally aspirated vehicles.
Shorn Joseph (Nissan Pulsar) will go against Chad “Rat Man” Bishop (Express Imports, L&T Productions Nissan Sunny) in the battle of the bottles (NOS).
In the Front Wheel Drive category, current FWD record holder Kevin “One Gear” Griffith (Suzuki Swift turbo) will go up against co-worker Anthony Mayers (Honda Civic turbo).
Rear Wheel Drive sees Corey “Tom” Stanford driving the SDRR Toyota Corolla against Bushy Park regular Gregory “Cheese” Catwell in his Cheese auto glass/ Hilti/ Castrol Toyota-powered Datsun 1200.
Four Wheel Drive will feature BADD 2016 Champion Driver Jeremy “Silent” Greenidge (DC-R Motorsport/ maxtorqueperformance.com Evo-powered Mitsubishi Colt) up against Matthew “DMZ” Forde in his Maximo Batteries/ Hunte's Auto Spares/ Illusion Graphics/ Junior Wood Trucking Services/ Forde's Auto/ Slam 101.1FM/ Goodyear/ Wow Displays/ South Coast Customs Mitsubishi Evo III.
There will also be a Wild Card slot with current RWD and 2WD record holder Dan Johnson driving his locally-built electric-powered Westfield (the MegaWatt) against Jimmy Small, who has switched from his Evo VII to a Nissan Skyline GTR.
The final pairing could see the first ever 5-second pass in Barbados! Current 4WD and overall record holder Suleman “Sol” Esuf in his Mitsubishi Evo VII and Robert “Bob” Bishop in his Speed Shop sponsored Nissan Skyline GTR have both promised that the crowd will see a 5-second pass before the year is out.