As the rain drenched Bushy Park track opened its gate to the 40 foot containers carrying the Guyanese race cars and motorcycles on qualifying day, August 27, 2011, the Reggae Racers began to strategize how best to gain pole position on the flooded track.

The rain poses a major threat on qualifying day, as the Reggae Racers, some of whom are new to the track, would not be afforded the opportunity to properly test their cars and motorcycles. With the rain affecting the texture and the feel of the ride on the flat Barbadian track, drivers like Dean Shaw would have to employ the Jamaican spirit and get ingenious to combat the wet conditions in his Pro Challenger Truck.

“The rain will affect us badly because I have no rain tires but I’m trying to get some to borrow so we can qualify,” said Dean. Stefan Chin also had some concerns about the rain, as this was his first time competing at Bushy Park.

“I haven’t has a chance to feel the track when its dry cause since the bikes were cleared Friday night, the track has been still a bit wet. The Barbadians would have an advantage because they already know how the track feels when its dry, and if the sun comes out o race day, we will be riding on a completely new surface that we didn’t get a chance to test or practice on,” said Chin.

Although “King” David Summerbell Jr had all angles covered in a 4WD Mitsubishi Evolution 8, with rain tires at his disposal for the race day, rain on a qualifying day also didn’t serve him well. “Today is not a good day for the rain; we would have loved it to be dry today. In the rain you really can’t do much testing of the car and we have had zero time on the track. We would like rain tomorrow because we would be at an advantage with the four wheel drive,” said Summerbell.

George Bayley and Andre Anderson shouldn’t fare too badly, as they had semi rain tires with grooves to channel the water from beneath the tire and Anderson’s Mitsubishi Mivec was being powered by all four wheels. “The rain is not bad, and even though I don’t have any rain tires, the semi rain tires and my four wheel drive will help me with the wet conditions” said Andre.

Peter “Zoom Zoom” Rae was quite optimistic about the weather and plans to do whatever it takes to qualify with the rain. “The rain gives me an opportunity to exercise my slicks before the dry runs. I have an issue though with the steaming of the windscreen during the rain. I like driving in the wet though, I might just pop out the windscreen if it starts to steam,” chuckled Rae.  

Dwight Smart attempted a testing lap on his Suziki GSXR but it wasn’t very promising on his slicks. “I don’t have rain tires and its very slippery out there in the rain, I just have to run to the best of my ability and hope for the best; I also have to try not to overdo it in these wet conditions,” said Dwight Smart.

Despite the flooded track, Barbados Auto Racing League Director, Roger Welch-Payne, is positive about the weather. “I never seen this much rain before on qualifying day, presently there are problems maneuvering the paddock area but the track usually dries up though and we are hoping for dry conditions come race day” said Roger Welch-Payne.