Barnes back home and resting after mishap in Saudi Arabia
Published:Tuesday | December 13, 2022 | 1:13 AMOrane Buchanan/Staff Reporter
JAMAICA’S 2022 National Car Park Drift champion Nicholas ‘Tazz’ Barnes is back home and resting following his historic trip to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, where he represented the country at the Red Bull Car Park Drift Finals.
Barnes, who defeated 20 local drivers to claim the crown in October, fell short of his expectations in the Arab country, as he suffered burns from a fire that took place during practice, ahead of the competition.
“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 on fire. With the help of the other competitors and bystanders, we managed to put out the fire on my legs, and then they extinguished the fire on the car,” he revealed.
The 23-year-old Barnes said the ordeal was obviously what 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 flexed my legs, there was excruciating pain. There was a great deal of discomfort,” Barnes added.
The reigning local drift champion, who was touted by German driving legend Johannes Hountondji as one for the future, exited the competition at the first round as he fell short of the 179 points needed to progress, ending on 125 points, Barnes placed all the blame on the mishap for his early exit.
“I strongly believe so, having to try and navigate through the course and having to deal with the pain, I mean, it was kind of distracting. However, the overall experience was like no other. It was definitely a big honour to fly the Jamaican flag high,” he said.