American Terence Cox was the man behind the wheel of Team Mohamed’s winning Nissan GT-R at “King of the Strip 2” drag-racing meet staged at the South Dakota Circuit on Sunday.
Cox was part of an intense battle of speed with Trinidadian Andy Bissessar and his rail-car, which was edged at the finish line in a time of 7.527s compared to the rail-car’s 7.637s.
“It was a close one, but I just barely got it. Maybe it was all in the reaction time,” the American expressed. However, the GT-R had a reaction time of 0.192 of a second compared to the rail’s 0.101s.
The Nissan GT-R and the rail-car were locked in a battle that has doubtless been etched on the memory of its spectators
“The drag meet is awesome. I cannot believe all the people that come out here, all the fans. I really enjoy the people walking by. Guyana is a country where they all come together and we have great race out here”, Cox stated when questioned on his impression of the event.
With just a change in transmission two days before race-day, Cox highlighted, the car is low maintenance and can run even faster, a possible 7.40s on the quarter-mile.
Bissessar, who came to the meet with great hype, given the track record of his car – 7.29 seconds on home soil – expressed dissatisfaction with the track: “The track in Trinidad is well-prepared, and this track is not prepared at all! These cars need proper track preparation to run well! To run on this type of surface is really tough to get any good times,” he declared.
“We ran close to the GT and finished! That’s a four-wheel drive car (GT-R), which makes it easier to hook up on bad tracks”, he added.
Prior to the event being staged, Guyana Motor Racing & Sports Club (GMR&SC) president, Ramez Mohamed, revealed that work was ongoing assiduously to improve the condition of the track.
Questioned whether on a better surface he would take down the GT-R, Bissessar responded, “Yes! He would be at a disadvantage on a good track, whereas I am at a disadvantage on a bad track”.
And regarding making a return, Bissessar said, “There definitely needs to be a well prepared track; and if it is well prepared, then we can come back”.
