JMC Rally & Autocross Archive
Governor General, Sir Clifford Campbell about to start car #1 from the Start ramp on Friday night September 19, 1969. The beginning of the 1969 JMC Carreras 1000 Rally.
Brian Pengelley driving his Dodge Avenger Tiger on the Montego Freeport Special Special Stage during the Rothmans 747 Rally in 1975.
The Car #23 team of Pengelley / Sunderland / Rickman finished 8th Overall in the rally.
In the 1970’s, St. Thomas was a popular venue for a JMC Autocross (now known as a Sprint). These events were well supported by racers and fans alike, and featured some of the now legendary names of Jamaican Motor Sport.
BMW’s opposing – Tony Rerrie and Chris Bourke, Autocross #1, 1975, in Saint Thomas. This was before Chris Bourke added the “Marmaduke” livery.
In 1975, after the Rothmans 747 Rally, the S.O.S (Save Our Souls) Rally was held. This picture is of prizewinners from that Rally.
Standing, left to right: Kent LaCroix, Grant, Martin, Paul Chong.
Front left to right: Chris Sunderland, Chin, Beth LaCroix, Robin Sutherland.
Wayne Foster driving his Lotus Cortina at the Green Acres Speed Event, JMMC Autocross #5 in 1975.
Champion Autocross Winners
The team of David Bell, Keith Gunter and Evan Sharp in an Avenger 1500 on the New Yarmouth special stage in the 1975 Rothmans 747 Rally. They finished 14th Overall, 1st Team along with rally winner Andy Dawson in his Avenger and Brian Pengelley in his Avenger Tiger.
The Triumph 2000 of McKenzie / DePass / Thomas, in the mud on a special stage during the 1969 Carreras 1000 Rally.
Clive Morin driving his Mini ahead of Chris Bourke in his BMW 2002 at Autocross #1, 1975, in Saint Thomas.
The Singer Vogue campaigned by the team of Stewart / Williamson / Nethersole embracing a water splash. They finished third overall in the 1969 Carreras 1000 Rally.
From JMC News magazine, Jan/Feb 1976: “A record number of entries (51, of which 47 actually started) were gathered at Albion Heights, off St. Thomas main road, and the hills were reverberating with the sounds of revved engines including the single-seater racing cars of Messrs. Machado, Wade and D’Oyen. Everyone was waiting to see the performance of Witty’s new Works Toyota and the clash between himself and no. 79 Trevor Hamilton’s Mini Special was expected to be the highlight of the day.”
“Trevor ran first and turned in 1:47.9; Witty then went and turned in a tremendous 1:39.0 and it was all over bar the shouting, or so most of us thought. The Toyota is literally brand new and Witty figured that he would forgo his second run and give himself more time to run in the car – lo and behold Trevor came through with a magnificent 1:38.6 and the call went out, “Witty, you have to run again!”
” “…Go”, and the Toyota set off. Up at the finishing line the tension was near unbearable. With one minute fifteen seconds gone, no sound of the Toyota could be heard in the still mountain air. At one minute thirty seconds I heard someone say “…he can’t do it…” – there was still no sound of the car. (To appreciate the importance of the sound, the way the acoustics were at the finish one began to hear the cars when they were approximately a quarter of a mile away from the top, which meant a hard right-hander, a S bend, a left-hander, another right-hander and a yump to the finish, were still to be completed.)
1:31.0, nothing. 1:32.0 and an engine under heavy strain could just be heard in the distance and the countdown started. 1:33.0; 1:34.0; 1:35.0, no Toyota in sight; 1:36.0 and there was suddenly a white car flying through the air, leaning heavily toward one side, blue smoke being emitted from the tyres and exhaust; 1:37.0, 1:37.5; 1:37.9 and “He’s over” … a fantastic finish and a fantastic motorcar/driver combination.”
