Latest News
Jamaica’s car drift champion warns he will be back
December 13, 2022
Jamaica's National Car Park Drift champion Nicholas 'Tazz' Barnes is back home and resting after suffering burns from a fire during practice ahead of the Red Bull Car Park Drift final in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
In the historic trip, Barnes represented Jamaica after defeating 20 local drivers in October to claim the national crown. The burns prevented him from meeting expectations in the Arab country.
"What had happened was that I was driving and at the very last obstacle, I just felt my feet started getting cold and then I started smelling fuel. My racing suit and shoes were covered in gas. I managed to pull the belt and got out, but when I got out, my feet were still on fire.
"With the help of the other competitors and bystanders, we managed to out the fire from my legs and then they extinguished the car," he revealed.
The 23-year-old Barnes said the ordeal affected his performance throughout the competition, as he drove in severe pain and had "zero" level of comfort, rubbing shoulders against the other 25 international competitors.
"Well, I mean, that in itself affected my performance greatly as I was in severe pain, as every time I was supposed to flex my legs, it's like a form of excruciating pain, a severe pain, I have to go through just to get the car moving. Having to drive with pain is no level of comfort," Barnes added.
The reigning champion, who was touted by German driving legend Johannes Hountondji as one for the future, exited the competition in the first round. He fell short of the 179 points needed to progress by ending on 125 points. He blamed the mishap for his premature end.
"I strongly believe so, having to try and navigate through the course and dealing with the pain, I mean, it was distracting, however, the experience was like no other. It was definitely an honour to fly the Jamaican flag high.
"The level of injury that I got to still compete just to raise the flag, it wasn't easy. It was a whole task, but we know what we wanted to accomplish. We wanted to grace the world stage and let them know that Jamaica is in the midst and that we will be back," he argues.
