VENGEANCE –Part II (Chapter 2)

The 10 seconds class is still being spoken about today and my guess is the discussions will continue for some time. Patrick Campbell hails from the Cayman islands. These islands are known for tourism and off shore banking but, based on recent happenings it is evident that Cayman is also the home of a number of accomplished race car drivers.

Godzilla

The Nissan Skyline GTR (Godzilla), is known worldwide for its supercar like performance and its notorious feats of excellence on the touring car circuit. It is also the tuners weapon of choice in drag racing in Asia and down under (Australia).

Unfortunately here on our little slice of paradise we are rarely exposed to Godzilla’s wrath and prowess on the 1320 ft. Patrick Campbell changed that for a lot of persons, especially for those, who were not fortunate enough to see Cressmore White’s GTR, driven by Richard ‘Puffy’ Nicholas, when it made a 10 seconds pass at Vernamfield, Clarendon in 2007.

Patrick Campbell conducted classes at Vengeance Part II, topic – How To Drag Race a Nissan Skyline GTR. Each time the GTR’s, air filter protruding front section edged pass the sliding gate or the Tower and came in the full view of the race fans, the eruption which resulted can only be compared to a thousand bells sounding off in a bell fry. An alcoholic who received a gift basket filled with his favourite spirits could not have displayed more pleasure than the fans at Jamwest. Power is nothing without control and with each challenger defeated it was clear that Patrick Campbell was in control of his very powerful GTR. Patrick successfully completed the rounds and made it to the finals where he met Wayne Martin.

Wayne Martin was driving another Japanese icon, the Toyota Supra. During the rounds there were occasions when the Supra would react angrily to Wayne’s demands and break loose at the rear, as if to protest and as if to reprimand, Wayne would correct the slide and apply more power to ensure victory – master 1, servant nil !

Gone in 10 seconds

The 10 seconds class final was pitched by the announcer, as Jamaica versus Cayman and as patriotism was being abandoned by many, the two six cylinder turbo charged machines rumbled to the line. When the green light appeared, both drivers reacted instantly and the mechanical chain reaction began. Wayne Martin’s Supra left the line like a F16 fighter jet from an aircraft carrier, zeroing in on the finish line, in pursuit of victory. Patrick had a plan, but the GTR had another plan. On green, Patrick released the clutch, fed fuel to Godzilla and released the 600 plus horses. The rear wheels started sliding to the left which caused the GTR to careen across the lanes, complete a 180 degree turn and come to a stop next to the far wall, after minor impact with the wall. Patrick was obviously ok and as they pushed the car back to the pits he was applauded and rightfully so, because it was obvious that he knew how to hustle a GTR down the ¼ mile.

Prior to the finals of the nine seconds class, Craig Lue made a nine seconds run during qualifying. I saw that run and I was as happy as a lark. There were two cars in the class Craig’s Evo VII and Dean Shaw’s Camaro (which is really a dragster).Personally I was not of the view that Craig could defeat Dean and as such I was more interested to see what time Craig would do if he was ‘pushed’ by the Camaro. If pre race antics were anything to go by both cars were already winners. Craig practiced his aggressive four wheel drive launch and Dean was busy doing nothing short of a burnout competition.

Pandemonium was rife in the stands. Yellow lights – both cars staged, then GREEN .The Camaro’s supercharged V8 drowned all the other sounds. Dean’s hands were full but he was fine. Craig’s Evo on the other hand was where I expected it to be. The Evo’s superior launch placed Craig next to the Camaro and from that point the Evo was like a cheetah in pursuit of a meal. The win light showed that Dean won but he pushed Craig to his lowest e.t. -9.5 seconds.

Craig Lue and the Lueboyz should be congratulated for what they have accomplished and they deserve all the respect that I saw other competitors readily giving each time the car made a run. At one stage Nick Lue was in the Tower watching the qualifying run and when he heard the time he could not contain himself, he was hitting thumbs and fists with everyone near him ! Well done Lueboyz.

The weather held this time around (no rain) and the event finished early enough for prizes and trophies to be handed out before nightfall. It was a good day of racing, congratulations to all of the class winners and I am now looking forward to Vengeance- Part III.

Cecil Munroe, Gleaner Online Writer

Nb. Thanks Mr. Windsor Young and the rest of the Team