The Ironshore Tarmac Time Attack, round 3 of the JMMC/Jamaica Beverages/Kir Dex Transportation Services National Sprint Championships, will be held at Montego Park Estates (Morgan’s property, just across from Ironshore Esso and Burger King) Ironshore, Montego Bay on Sunday, June 8, starting at 10 am.
With series sponsorship from Jamaica Beverages, the CVM Group and Kir-Dex Transportation Services, associate sponsors Suzuki, Automotive Art, Mitsubishi, Volkswagen, Kinn’s Auto Parts, Dr. Lushus, A&B Fashion Signal, Castrol, Ward’s Auto Parts, Events R Us, Ward’s Power Tools, Bay Waata, Bearings & Seals, Lloyd’s of Montego Bay, Spot Valley Sports Complex and The Wexford Hotel have come together to make this the largest motorsport event to be planned in Montego Bay for some time, following record numbers in attendance at recent events at Jamwest, Dover and Kingston.
The event takes a new twist this year, as several new car dealers are set to introduce their 2008 models to the Western region at the event, led by Suzuki, Mitsubishi, and Volkswagen, who have all made strong commitments to the sporting arena for 2008, with Suzuki being the official car of the Reggae Boyz and sponsoring the first dexterity of the season, while Mitsubishi and Volkswagen have appeared at circuit, sprint and rally events. The Mitsubishi models will be complemented by the presence of the Motor Sales & Service Ltd/Flow/Ciclon Energy Drink/AMS Performance Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution 8 also known as AMS TA1, of top circuit racing driver David Summerbell making a guest demonstration appearance. This car has started a “time attack” craze in Jamaican racing circles, with the traditional time trial sprint race format now being the ground for time trial battles between the drivers and the clock! Matthew Gore will pilot the Evolution 6 ½ out of the Team Mobay Racing camp alongside big brother Doug in his Evolution 5, all three Mitsubishi drivers coming off a successful Dover event just over a week ago.
Challenger Garage and Spot Valley Sports Complex are two teams from the western city that are expected to field large teams (mainly driving variations of Toyota’s reliable Corolla and Starlet models) in various classes, in addition to the Sherwin Williams/Motor Sales & Service Team Mobay Racing (Mitsubishi Lancer Evolutions and Toyota Corolla) the Puma/Leroy’s Auto Glass/Cal Doors RMS Motorsport team (Subaru Impreza WRX Sti and Honda CRX) and Team West Med, who will debut their new Bay Waata Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution 9 at the event, driven by popular racer Junior Barnes.
Team Brown’s Town will field Orville Johnson (Toyota Tercel turbo), Ian Edwards (Mazda 323), Dwight Walters and Keith Mills. Thomas Hall (Toyota Starlet turbo) and Salvador Solis (Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution II) from Team Xsomo & Bayliss Consulting will represent the drivers from the east, and will be complemented by Team Xpress Racing’s Julian Gordon and Freddy Chin sharing driving duties in a VW Golf GTi. Team Mack Attack will send Gordon McDowell in the Hyundai Coupe along with Michelle Delfosse and Tanee Green in a Mitsubishi Mirage RS, while Team Mandeville will send sideways driver Marcus Barnes to uphold their honor.
A couple of newcomers will have their race debut at the event, namely longtime Montego Bay Motoring Club stalwart Caulos Williams, Spot Valley Sorts Complex’s Haniff Murray, George Blackellar and Robert Bahadour-Singh of the Challenger Garage team. They may be taking lessons from 2007 Champion driver Maurice Whittingham who drove his Toyota Starlet at this event last year to an impressive 3rd place in the JA2 class. Others expected to compete are Macklin Peterkin in his Subaru Impreza WRX Sti, defending rally driver’s champion Dave Lee of Spot Valley Sports Complex and Joel Jackson of Jetcon racing who is looking to set the fastest time of the day in his Formula Shell single seater car.
