Alan Chen, a man for all seasons (races actually)

Submitted by admin on Sat, 01/23/2010 - 20:06.

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Jamaica’s all rounder race car and driver.

From motorsports writer Dean Corrodus

Alan Chen is a man on a mission. With a surname made famous in the racing fraternity by his late uncle, Alfred “Uji” Chen, who built the Dover raceway facilities in St. Ann, young Alan was always expected to yield to his racing heritage and follow in both his father (“Foji” Chen) and uncle’s footsteps. A construction contractor by day, Alan spends his nights and weekends in pursuit of speed: building, repairing and tuning a race machine that in 2009 went far beyond what any other car has achieved so far in Jamaica. To immediately enlighten you on what we are dealing with here, take a look at the fact sheet below:

•   Car: 1987 AE86 Toyota Corolla GTS, rear wheel drive with limited slip differential.
•   Engine: Toyota 4A GE turbocharged 1600cc 16 valve twin cam.
•   Driven and built by Alan Chen from shell up with help from Xavia Murray of Murray’s Auto Development and consultation from Bill Lewis.
•   Originally built to compete in the Spot Valley Sports Complex million dollar championship as part of the Autosource team, and placed first in the championship.
•   Car was improved to compete in other events based on its success.
•   Circuit racing @ DOVER raceway: Two 1st places in IP33 & MP2, three 2nd places in MP2 including meet champion for the 2009 Caribbean Invasion meet and a best lap time of 1 minute 26.1 seconds.
Having what is likely to be the closest finish in the history of Dover Raceway crossing the line just inches behind Peter Jaggon’s Honda CRX.

• Rallysport: Rally Jamaica 2008: three 1st places for legs 1, 2 and New Kingston SS in Class JA4 and 2nd fastest 2wd overall.
2nd place Class JA4 JMMC/Spot Valley Sprint #6.

• Drag Racing @ Jamwest Speedway: best elapsed time of 11.526 seconds.

• Sponsors Allied Concrete & Equipment Brokerage, A1 Equipment Rental, Murrays Auto Development, Farmers Jerk, Pav Con Construction, CD Express, Murrays Auto Repair, Big Rat Auto and Andrew Hamilton Trucking/Equipment.

Alan is planning to make more improvements to the car in an effort to compete in a full season of Dover and then Jamaica Rally in 2010. Look out for him as a force to be reckoned with on the track, as besides his racing exploits where timing is crucial, his driving skills as an entertainer in the drifting discipline have possibly gained him even more recognition. With skills honed over the years in the dexterity series put on by both the Jamaica Millennium Motoring Club and the Montego Bay Motoring Club where he has won numerous trophies and awards…too many to mention here, and perfected at various locations in and around Mandeville, Alan is one of the most talented proponents of one of the world’s fastest growing forms of motorsports…drifting. Unable to keep all that talent bundled up, he has put on the first real, tire shredding, “on your feet” drifting display at Dover Raceway at the end of several of his circuit races, and it is a toss-up as to who enjoys them more: the fans or the driver.