Hydes first in new drag series
(CNS): The first of a seven-series drag racing event, sponsored by Automotive Art, was off to a great start last Saturday (10 April 2010) when eight hit the race track in Breakers. Two of the cars were 5-second racers – Dante “Ross” Hydes in his Honda CBR and Sammy Jackson in his 2000 Camaro boasting over 1000hp. Each racer made two qualifying passes, and then they were placed into their respective groups following the new “Quick 8” format. This new format allows for “Run What You Brung” racing and after everyone is qualified, they are placed together with a group of their closest competitors defined by time.
However during the race, competitors may only go 0.2 seconds faster than their qualifying time. Even with the low number of competitors the new format worked well and it promises to add to the excitement of close racing at Breakers.
After qualifying the competitors were split into three groups; in the low 8’s Jason Henry in his SER placed first, beating the new fastest female driver Manuela Cornelssen in the GMC Denali truck. In the upper 6-second class, Cliff Weeks in his Yellow Evolution III beat Kenrick Baker in his Lancer GSR and both posted faster times as the night progressed.
In the sub 5-second class were giants Ross and Sammy, bike VS car. Because of safety rules the bikes are not allowed to race bikes at the same time so the winner was determined by total time of reaction time added to Elapsed Time. Ross posted a good time in the low 6’s that normally would not be enough to best Sammy who had been running 5.8’s earlier in the night.
However as is always the case in racing, things can and do happen. On Sammy’s run the car got a little squirrelly at half track and he had to get out of the throttle, handing Ross the win. After the race Ross showed true sportsmanship by asking for Sammy to get another clean run. However the run was upheld by all parties and Ross took home the prize money.
Racer Keith Tibbetts, overly impressed with the races, said, “The track was prepped great and I had lots of fun”. Spectators also enjoyed the races cheering on their favorite cars and bikes.
Cayman Motorsports Association would like to thank the volunteers, participants, sponsors and Robert Campbell. For more information or to join the Cayman Motorsports Association, email racing.cma@gmail.com.
Category: Sports
