Rajendra Jadusingh proved to be the fastest man of the night at Asphalt Assault: Wet ‘n’ Slide at Palisades International Raceway on Saturday, June 22. (Photo by Rory Daly)
The Asphalt Assault Series may have had a late start to its season, but the pace quickly picked up with exciting racing right down to the end at “Wet ‘n Slide,” an action-packed event on Saturday, June 22, at Palisadoes International Raceway in Kingston.
“The event went well. The team is tired but ecstatic because it was a great event. There was a great turnout, the competition was great, the spectators were delighted, the sponsors were delighted so we’re delighted,” Christopher James of organisers Team Streets told the Jamaica Observer’s weekly motoring magazine.
Defending winner Rajendra Jadusinh is a regular favourite in the dexterity competition every year, but this time it wasn’t an easy fight, even though his series rival Joel Jackson didn’t compete. He had to battle it out against a variety of talents and machines to come out on top at the end of the night.
“Dexterity is still a lot of fun, especially considering the type of car I’m driving. I’ve competed in professional series in proper race cars and won a lot there, but there’s something unique about using a regular road car while competing against the same people from back then who are in fully built race cars,” Jadusin said.
He topped the podium in a MINI One, winning the front-wheel drive class, setting the fastest clean run of the event on his first try. His rivals then came hard on him, first Lee Vaz, who had set the closest time in a Toyota Starlet, suffering a mechanical failure before pushing further to beat Jadushin’s time. Montegonia pair Zidane Madden and Ian Wright then challenged him again, both coming close but failing to make a penalty-free run and missing out on the win. Demar Lee was fifth overall in a Subaru Impreza STi rally car, but was not fast enough to challenge for victory, and was unable to avoid the cones.
“For sure I don’t know what worked in my favour tonight. I think it was the wet track, it helped a lot. On the pavement with my car you have very little power and no limited slip differential so when you have a lot of traction you really struggle against cars with more power,” Jadusin explained.
Wright won the PRO class in a Nissan Sunny, while Vaz won the rear-wheel drive limited slip differential class.
Mr James said the series would conclude with a grand finale at Burnham Field in Clarendon in November.
