Record competitor numbers for BADD Round 3

The Barbados Association of Dragsters & Drifters (BADD) attracted the largest-ever entry in its seven-year history when 54 competitors faced the starter at Bushy Park on August 20. Many of the racers in Launch Control: Round 3 were newcomers, who made the transition from the extremely-successful Practice Day run on the previous Sunday, while all eight class-winners from Round 2 in May had taken advantage of BADD’s generous offer of free entry for Round 3. A sizeable crowd of enthusiastic supporters settled on ‘The Hill’ alongside the drag strip to witness seven categories being decided.

Newcomers in winners row on their first-ever outing were Tahir Kara in a Toyota Corolla RunX, who won the 10.0 to 11.0-second bracket, and Rick Dowridge (Toyota Starlet), who won the 9.5 to 10.0s bracket. Shorn Joseph came from the bottom of the 9.0 to 9.5s bracket to claim top honours in his nitrous-fed Nissan Pulsar, while Anthony Mayers (Honda Civic) upset usual class winner Kevin Griffith (Suzuki Swift GTi) for a win in the 8.0 to 9.0s bracket. Graeme Finlayson had one final go in the turbo Hyabusa-powered Westfield to edge out a hard-charging Dwayne Browne (Pulsar) to take the 7.5 to 8.0s class. Barry Gilkes (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo III) won the 7.0 to 7.5s class, while Dan Johnson in his electric Westfield dispatched David Balgobin (Evo IV) for the 6.0s category. Johnson also set the fastest time for the day, 6.594s.

BADD Chairman Jason Downey said: “A huge ‘thank-you’ to all of the spectators, drivers, scrutineers, marshals, and anyone else who volunteered their time and effort for helping to make today's event a success!” The fourth round of Launch Control is scheduled for Sunday, October 1, when BADD will share Bushy Park with the Barbados Karting Association (BKA).