JRDC Carnival of Speed report

DOVER REPORT – CARNIVAL OF SPEED – APRIL 25TH 2011

The day dawned bright and clear following  qualifying the previous day, the tension in the air was tangible. Three camps at the track were filled with an expectancy of the outcome of the day. The pits were a buzz of activity, crews putting on the final touches to the car and making the last minute changes to extract the best performance from their rides, so they could win and of course please the huge crowd. The hillside filled quickly and people started to settle into their spots from as early as 7.00 am, in order to have the best vantage point to watch their driver of choice. Later on in the day the hillside would erupt many times with screams of delight as the cars made their way swiftly around the track.

The meet commenced with the usual opening ceremony and grand fanfare and homage being paid to Jamaica “Land we love” by the singing of the National Anthem, with photographers scrambling around to ensure they got the best shots of the competitors and their cars. The cars were resplendent in bright and vibrant colored liveries, and as each car made their way down the grid there was a roar approval for the crowd favorites, with the loudest roars afforded the Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution TA1 of David Summerbell, the Audi TT DTM of Doug Gore and the dark horse- the Evolution powered BMW M3 driven by Christopher Campbell.
The bikers were also there in their numbers, a crowd favorite at Dover, who in the recent years have returned to Dover and made a name for themselves once again. They had three exciting races in two classes for the day; the triumphant winner of the first race was Greg Cross in his Suzuki GSXR, followed by Andre Norman in his Honda RR.

Greg Cross                                   Andre Norman                                    Randy Dyer

Randy Dyer and Richard Lyn of the B class dominated the 1st and 2nd place of the day, with Randy in his colorful bike and even more unusual helmet had the crowd cheering him on all day.
The car races were long anticipated and in the street class Bracket 45 Turbo, Ramon Watson in his Nissan won the first race with Neilon Barnett taking second place in his Toyota Starlet. The B45 race is divided into two classes, turbo and naturally aspirated, both equally exciting as the drivers eeked out every ounce of power from their street cars whilst remaining in their bracket of one minute and forty five seconds. It is an excellent way for persons who are interested in starting in racing to do so at Dover.  In the Naturally Aspirated class race 1,  Chressmore White and Kayde Walker dominated driving a Mitsubishi FTO and a Honda Integra respectively.

Race two for B45 turbo class was taken by Don Thompson in his Subaru STi and Ramon Watson in his Nissan being demoted to 2nd place with Patrick Ricketts in a turbo-charged Nissan AD wagon in third. Kayde Walker, Jermaine James and Chressmore White held all the NA cars at bay and walked away with the podium positions.

George Bayley in his Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution walked away with the number 1 spot for both B27 races, doing his fastest lap of 1.27.69 in lap three of race 1– he was followed by Charles Maxwell in another Mitsubishi who did 1.27.71 and Jaleel Handal in third. In the second race Bailey was followed by Handal in his newly remodeled Subaru Impreza WRX Sti while Charles Chen in a Mitsubishi Lanver Evolution VIII was third.

First place in both Bracket 31 races belonged to Sebastian Rae in the JAA sponsored yellow Mitsubishi Mirage followed closely in Race 1 by Tarik Minott in the very popular Suzuki Ignis and Vivian Mitchell in his red and white Honda Civic in 3rd. In race 2, 2nd place went to Mitchell while Don Gilbert 3rd in a Suzuki Swift was 3rd.

Bracket 37 race 1 was won by Team Browns Town’s Tazmanian Motorsports prepared Honda CRX of Troye Riley with veteran Raymond Donaldson in his colorful Evolution 4 placing second and Sheldon Morgan in a Mitsubishi Mirage RS in third. German Engineered Team Brown’s Town Racing VW’s took first and second place in the rain affected race 2, piloted by Nigel Edwards and Jerome Jones, with Riley making it a clean sweep for the St. Ann based team in third.

The father and son duo of Gary and Kyle Gregg took the number one titles in the Modified Production class 1 and 2 with son Kyle, driving the more powerful and more modified of the two cars in MP2, having a clean sweep of the top step of the podium in both races, as his dad Gary was to do in MP1 as well. Sebastian Rae was 2nd in MP2 for both races and Joslyn Crawford 3rd in both in his beautifully restored Ford Escort with all kinds of exotic goodies under the bonnet.

Joslyn Crawford

The long anticipated Modified Production 4 race, the crowd was silent and holding their breath as David “the King” Summerbell, who was in pole position, lined up beside Doug “Hollywood” Gore in his Audi TT- DTM who was second on the grid. The battle was on….the “king” moved swiftly to the head of the pack and dominated the race in a blisteringly fast time of 1.19.67, not quite the record for Dover but very close, maintaining the lead throughout the race. Unfortunately the dark horse in the form of Christopher “Bossie” Campbell had issues during qualifying and started at the back of the grid but managed to fight his way through the traffic and ended up in fifth place. He later developed more issues and retired for the day.

David Summerbell (left) and Doug Gore.

Alan Chen claimed the third place in his fire breathing Mazda RX7 formerly driven by Bull Thompson; it is definitely felt that the next meet will prove more exciting as the competition gets closer and closer when the foreigners join the melee…

Christopher “Bossie” Campbell  & Alan Chen

The Modified Production 3 race is run concurrently with the MP 4 race and Dean Shaw in his Pro-Challenge Truck which ran 1.29 and kept up the pace throughout the race with Gary Barrett, running a turbocharged Honda Civic in 2nd with Troye Riley finishing 3rd. In MP4 race 2 it was again Summerbell in 1st place with Gore spinning off in corner 1 and retiring, with Chen and Peter Rae both in fire belching Mazda RX7s in a close 2nd and third place crossing the line together. Andre Anderson was 1st in MP3 in his Anderson’s Auto Parts built Mitsubishi Mirage RS followed by Charles Chen and Teddy Burton in his turbocharged Honda Civic out of the Mandeville based MAD Racing stable.

The last race of the day was the Thundersport race with two classes running concurrently. Class II again saw the battle of the Gore piloted Audi TT and the Total sponsored Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution known as TA1. What ensued was a nail biting,  on the edge race, the passes between the two big juice cars was fierce and frequent. Doug held his own for some of the race however his tyre choice saw him losing grip and the “King” held on to his throne firmly. A hugely exciting race which had the crowd roaring and screaming the name of their “driva”…
Kyle Gregg scored his biggest payday to date in winning the class I category, with father Gary in 2nd and fellow MAD Racing Honda driver Vivian “Mitchie” Mitchell in 3rd to make it a clean sweep of the podium places for the Xavia Murray tuned Hondas.

The King still reigns!!

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