Text by Dean Corrodus
Photos by Donovan Montaque, Michael Samuels.
The month of May saw continued action from a packed 2012 Jamaican motorsports calendar, with two major events staged.
Karting.
The Jamaica Karting Association staged the 4th of 10 scheduled meets, with a growing number of spectators and competitors, the Palisadoes International Raceway forms a colorful tapestry for the artful work of photographers keen on capturing the daring exploits of the racers.
Results here: http://www.mylaps.com/results/showevent.jsp?id=780149
Circuit
The Jamaica Race Drivers Club staged the 2nd meet of the season when they hosted the first round of the Caribbean Motor Racing Championships at Dover Raceway on May 26/27. Smaller than expected teams from Barbados (Stuart Williams – Lotus Exige, CMRC Group 4, Mark and Kurt Thompson – Toyota Starlet Group 1 and Honda CRX Group 2 respectively and Terrence Olivierre – Motorcycle), Guyana (Andrew King – Mazda RX7 CMRC Group 4, Harold Hopkinson – Honda CRX Group 2} and the Cayman Islands (Junior Hydes and Andy Bodden – Mitsubishi Lancer Evolutions) pitted their skills against a formidable Jamaican team that saw the home team walk away with a clean sweep of the top positions. Mechanical maladies were to dodge the foreign competitors with the exception of the Caymanians to add to their woes of a delay in the clearing of the cars from the wharf.
Total Team Summerbell Racing undoubtedly was the stars of the meet, with all three cars winning multiple races. Team leader David Summerbell initially set the pace by setting a new track record of 1:17.735 in qualifying on Saturday and then going on to win 5 out of 6 races entered including all three Seaboard Marine CMRC Group 4 races. Team member Kyle Gregg driving a Honda Civic had three wins from three starts in the Modified Production 2 and Thundersport 1 categories while Andre Anderson in his Mitsubishi Mirage came away with 2 wins in the Modified Production 3 category as well as a 2nd place in race 2 of the B27 class and three third place finishes in the CMRC group 4 races. Other notable performances were Robert McDonald who won both Class B Motorcycle races, Neilon Barnett in the B45N category and Natasha Chang who had three podium finishes in her new ATL Automotive Racing/Dolly’s Detailing/Rainforest Seafoods Honda Civic.
A damper was put on the meet early however in first lap of race 1 of the CMRC series when Douglas Gore’s ATL Automotive racing/Boom/WATA/Petcom Audi TT came in contact with the Mazda RX7 of Peter Rae which sent Gore off track, his car suffering extensive damage that put him out of contention for the rest of the day and possibly the next meet.
Several drivers set new personal best lap times in addition to Summerbell’s lowering of the overall lap record, a testament to the improved track conditions and safety measures being developed by the club over time at the facility. Work continues in this regard as the club seeks to continually raise the standards of its operations.
Results here: http://www.jrdc.org/results/caribbean-invasion-2012-results
Upcoming events
Round 4 of the Jamaica Millennium Motoring Club’s national sprint championship takes place at the Farmville track at Thetford Great House near Bushy Park, Old Harbour, St. Catherine on Sunday, June 17, starting at 11 am.
Drivers Championship points leader Jordan “Frosty” Powell (510 points) has a 140 point advantage over second placed Matthew “Magnet” Gore and Dean Corrodus in 3rd place on 290 points. Top contenders in the JA2 class will be Daryl King with a recently refreshed car and Maurice Whittingham who has been undefeated in another genre of the sport in 2012: dexterities.
Look for action from double event winner Spencer Whittingham in his JN8 Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution V as well as Peter Jaggon (Subaru Impreza), Richard Chan (Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IV), Tony Fu (Toyota Corolla GT), Keith saunders (Chevrolet Chevette) and the Irie Racing riders on quads and dirt bilkes.
There will be a mini car show by Magnum Carr Sexy as well as a host of giveaways in addirtion to cash prizes for the male and female Dirt Master who set the fastest lap times on the track.
See Facebook event page here: http://www.facebook.com/events/446645012028123/
The Jamwest Speedway in Old Hope, Westmoreland will witness not only straight line drag racing come June 24, but two exhibition circuit races on the newly paved 1.8 mile circuit. Top drag racers Dean “Ovadose” Shaw, Lyndon “Buju” Bardowell, Bruce Hudson, Aldane “Spoon” Brown, Kevin “Alpine” Archer, and Damian “Damage” Allen will take to the 1320 in an attempt to repeat their success at meet 2.
See more here: http://www.wheelsjamaicahost.com/wheels_forum/adsimg/jamwest/
The Raynor King Memorial Rally has been rescheduled to June 24 and will be staged in the abandoned bauxite mines of Lydford, St. Ann. A total of just under 54 competitive stage kilometers are down to be contested on the high speed gravel surfaces there.
