Jamaica Race Drivers Club’s Seaboard Marine Caribbean Motor Racing Championship Round 1 May 22nd and 23rd 2011, Dover Raceway
Dover “tun up” fi true… including the sun hot! Somebody needs to turn down the temperature on the oven. The Seaboard Marine Caribbean Motor Racing Championship (CMRC) Dover Meet actually commenced on Sunday May 22nd, and was spread across two days because of the number of races – this race meet was an international event and we welcomed competitors from Cayman, Barbados and Guyana.
The first day of racing had qualifying and four races to whet the appetite of the many spectators that made the trek to the Dover Raceway in the hills of St. Ann. These four races included the first Mofified Production 4 with the anticipated battle between Doug “Hollywood” Gore and David “the King” Summerbell. Gore was on pole from an earlier qualifying run time of 1 min.18.888 secs. and led the race from the get go – the screams of the crowd (including myself) were frenzied and urgent; “Gooooooo Doug!” Persons bit their nails covered their eyes while others shouted “Gwaaaaaan David, Nyam him food!” However it seems as if the “King” had some major issues – on lap 3, he was seen swerving slightly from side to side and then came to a halt just before the back esses. Doug continued on to place first, far ahead of his nearest competitor. This has given him and his team the well needed confidence in the Audi TT.
Doug Gore/David Summerbell David Summerbell Doug Gore
On to the second race day; both sun block and a rain coat were needed on this day – badly. In the morning the skies were clear and the sun seemed as if the temperature was set on super high – the infield of Dover was awash with display booths, varying items associated with motor sports, all vying for attention. The smell of chicken jerking and “Soupie John’s” wares filled the air. This, along with the varying conversations that the fans were having, set the stage for a great day as one traversed the venue. “Wha mek dem farin man cyar so loud?” The answer was hilarious: “Dem can tan deh loud, King David a guh school dem prapa.” Motor sports fans like any other choose a driver or drivers that they follow, come thick or thin and their passion for that driver remains unfazed throughout that drivers tenure at the track. The opening ceremony was short and sweet, the national anthems played and balloons representing the colors of the Jamaican flag were freed into the skies. Let the race dem start – no long talking!!
Dover Grandstands Competitors at the opening ceremony Colors of Jamaica
The first three races of the day were CMRC races, as this Dover was not a local event; we had competitors from overseas in car and bike races, some very interesting rides indeed. David “the King” Summerbell in his Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution 8, sponsored by Total Lubricants, dominated this race, with the Barbados based Maloney father and son duo in the Automotive Art sponsored Mazda RX3 and Audi A4 following him swiftly down the track, trying their hardest to pick up as many points to secure the Caribbean Championship from early on. David’s best lap time in this race was 1.21 followed by the younger Maloney with his best lap time of 1.22.
David Summerbell and Mark Maloney Mark Maloney Mark Maloney and Doug Maloney
“Yow, di bike dem a run” is the next phrase one hears from the crowd and all activity ceases, nuh food nah buy, people don’t even drink dem drinks, di bike dem a guh hard!!! The battle of the countries is intense to say the least, and the bike races gave the excited crowd enough dare devilry to last them a very long time. Stefan Chin riding his Honda CBR600 in class A ruled the track, doing a best lap time of 1.24 and although Stephen Vieira’s best lap time was faster at 1.23, he still couldn’t manage to reach the checkered flag first. Halquin Rodney came with his best lap time of 1.26. Bikes are historically popular with Jamaicans and the excitement displayed in this race and all the bike races is no different, the heart stopping angle that the bikers lean into the track almost defies gravity in each corner as they move blisteringly fast, with that high pitched scream that echoes throughout the St. Ann mountains. I am still trying to make up my mind which one is louder, the crowds or the bikes.
Halquin Rodney Stefan Chin Stephen Viera
There were sixteen races on the second day of the meet, and within those sixteen races are two groups of CMRC car races, CMRC “big juice” (Group 4) “small juice” (Group 2) and the bikes. The Group 2 CMRC race is the smaller of the horse power cars but no less exciting and in some cases they were more exciting than the “big juice races”, as the battle for supremacy in these somewhat evenly matched machines, makes for close racing and the driver with the more daring maneuvers wins the battle. Sometimes in racing it is not all about horse power, but about braking and strategy. The CMRC Group 2 races 1 and 2 were won by Mark Thompson in a Toyota Starlet nicknamed “Ointment”, which I may add was a crowd favorite as he and his driving were spoken about way into the night. “Di yute wid di starlet sell off!” “Yuh did see dat caaarna?” Mark Thompson and his Starlet were clearly very entertaining and set best lap times of 1.33 and 1.34. Second and third places went to Chet and Raj Singh in their Honda Civics, and in the third race, RaJ Singh took first place with a best lap time of 1.41, followed by Kenrick Husband in a Toyota Starlet and Afraz Allie also in a Totoya Starlet. Wait deh di Starlet dem popula eena dis race eeh?…..Nuh worry, a suh di ting set.
Mark Thompson Chet Singh Raj Singh
Moving away from the CMRC races, one must mention the B45 races, as the bungling up and brukking out in this race was just plain epic. To explain, the B45 race was created to allow persons with street cars to race at Dover in a controlled environment. There are two groups within the B45 races, Turbo Charged and Naturally aspirated. The field of B45 cars was large and the racing albeit a lot slower than other races, but just as entertaining, the aim of the racers is not to go faster than 1min.45 secs. in their lap times, though this feat appears to be very hard to achieve as a lot of them seem to get caught up with the excitement and end up finishing outside their respective bracket. The B45T race on the second day was won by Don Thompson in his Subaru Impreza WRX STi sponsored by Vitalmed, with a best lap time of 1.48, followed by Dayne “Chucky” Chuck in his Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution 8 and Patrick Ricketts in a Nissan AD Wagon. The NA class was taken by Jermaine James, Chressmore White and Jason McPherson. The issue at hand is the roll cage, once they step up to a faster class, they must install a roll cage to comply with the regulations.
Kylus, Kylus, Kylus is all that comes to mind when one thinks about the Modified Production Class 2 races. Kyle Gregg, “what a yute can drive” –He late brakes as if he is still driving a go kart, himself and Andre Anderson are the face of motorsports in the years to come, mark my words. Kyle won all MP 2 races, in his Heroes Tyres sponsored Honda Civic with a Xavier Murray prepared B20 2 litre engine. His dad Gary is in a totally different bracket race which is run concurrently, MP1, his best lap times are not far off Kyle’s. Vivian Mitchell came second in the MP2 race with a best lap time and Peter Jaggon was third. Wait deh Kyle, yuh better watch out!! In watching the second race, Gary was in front of Kyle, but when asked about it, the response was – you have to give the old man a little fun! Gary was the winner of the 2010 Rally Jamaica.
The CMRC event was indeed a success, the gremlins from the previous event seemed have been exorcised. The new road, extended parking, increased vendor areas, shuttle bus service and satellite parking lot and a strong security forces presence made for a much more comfortable event. We look forward to the next even in August with much anticipation.
Photos courtesy of Shane Munroe, Omar Munroe, Michael Samuels, Donavon Montague and Nicola Williams
