From motorsports writer Dean Corrodus.
Photos by Brian "Fyah" Carless

Dover Raceway was the place to be last Sunday, August 3 when the Jamaica Race Drivers Club hosted the third round of the National Circuit Racing Championships, dubbed "Freedom of Speed".

Fans were in for a treat, as in addition to the now expected comfort of having access to the track at any time they arrived via the new pedestrian bridge that was in use at the last event, patrons at most of the main spectator areas could now see the action at the far reaches of the track via a huge 16 x 12 foot jumbotron screen placed beside the Cable & Wireless VIP tower, fed by live video from Creative Production and Training Centre (CPTC).

The much anticipated battle between top Mitsubishi drivers "King" David Summerbell and Douglas "Hollywood" Gore lived up to the expectations of the fans of each driver, as they both tasted victory on the day. Summerbell had done some improvements on his Motor Sales & Service Co. Ltd/Flow/Ciclon Energy drink/AMS Motorsports Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution 8, while Team Mobay Racing leader Gore had installed some new suspension components in an effort to have his 10 year old Sherwin Williams Paints/Motor Sales & Service/Slam Condoms Sunoco race fuels Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution 5 handle the corners a bit better:
Summerbell fired the first shot in the morning qualifying session with a new track record of 1 minute 19.095 seconds around the 1.6 mile Dover circuit, which was backed up by a second lap of 1 minute 19.10 seconds just to confirm that the first was not a fluke and that he was serious about staying in the winner's circle to which he had returned at the last meet. This had him start on pole position for the first Sobe Adrenaline Rush sponsored Modified Production race, which he duly won, putting some space between himself and Gore, both drivers being way ahead of the rest of the field.

Gore (left) and Summerbell (right) followed by the rest of the field.

Gore turned the tables on King David in the second SoBe Adrenaline Rush Modified Production race, as with the track now wet from an afternoon shower after being overcast all day, both drivers changed tires to wet weather designs: Summerbell using Toyo Proxes and Gore using Hoosiers. Both cars were equal down the front straight after the drop of the green flag, with both drivers playing chicken to see who would brake first in the slippery conditions for the double apex Goodyear corner. It was Summerbell who flinched, giving Gore a half fender advantage to the second apex, though he was on the outside. This however put him on the inside for the next corner at the Tyre Warehouse sign, where Gore set the car sideways in rally style drifting and swept ahead of his rival, who just could not match the sideways antics of his nemesis. Gore pressed hard through the next three laps and opened up a sizeable lead on Summerbell, who seemed to get serious with two laps remaining and closed the gap somewhat in the closing stages, but the damage had already been done and Gore crossed the line first to take the checkered flag, with Summerbell second and Peter Rae in third in his Mazda RX7.

Stephen Bansie

Wet weather racing also took place in the second Improved Production event, where Stephen Bansie used the four wheel drive advantage of his Tropical Blue Spring Water/Precision Alignment/Innovative Signs & Awnings Subaru Impreza WRX Sti Spec C and some good driving skills to run away with the victory in that class, with Dion "Babybomb" Gardner in the improved Autosource Mitsubishi Mirage RS in second and Sebastian Rae third in the turbocharged West Med Pharmaceuticals Mitsubishi Mirage RS.

Guy Fraser.

In the first Improved Production race it was 2007 Dover champion driver out of the Team Mobay Racing camp, Guy Fraser, who crossed the line ahead of Bansie to win that event, with Teddy Burton in a Mad prepared Honda Civic sponsored by Uncle Clem Meats in third place. Class 33 was won by Chris Wright in the Horse P Racing/Everett Fenton Garage "Purple Turtle", a Honda Civic coupe ahead of Dion Gardner driving the Autosource/Advance Performance Parts Mitsubishi Mirage RS and Sebastian Rae in the Telstar Cable/Precision Auto/FCB Lindo Mitsubishi Mirage 1.5 Turbo. Class 37 was won by Rohan Clarke driving the Team Xpress Racing Nissan Pulsar, with Brian Foster in the Ultra 7000 Honda Civic hatchback in second place and Dwayne Rowe in the Crawle Industrial Garage Toyota Starlet in third.

Wright and Clarke.

Team Mobay Racing had a third driver on the top step of the podium when Gary Williams, starting from the back of the grid, won the first Thundersport race, with attrition getting the better of the early front runners, as Chris Campbell in a Team Mobay Racing prepared Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution 4 suffered heartbreak when on the final corner before the checkered flag he broke an axle and could not make it up the grade to the finish line. The saying that racing builds character was never truer than in this case, as the affable Campbell took it all in stride and returned to finish second to Summerbell in the final race of the day, the Cable & Wireless Broadband Thundersport event. For this race, it was Summerbell's turn to start from the back, and while Campbell and Peter Rae battled for the early lead, the king was content to bide his time at the tail end of the field and pass only when it was safe, as he had been bumped by the slower car of Heath Causwell going into the Tyre Warehouse corner on the first lap, damaging the left rear side of his bumper. Campbell eventually powered past the hard cornering Rae into first place, but was soon caught by Summerbell, who made a fantastic pass on the newcomer as he hesitated going over the infamous Pinky's Bluff, diving to the inside after exiting the previous corner with a lot of momentum and combining that speed with his cars astounding acceleration, he made the pass at such a critical area look like child's play, and was by in a flash, literally. The day belonged to the king who enjoyed the spoils of victory, garnering two race wins and a second place on the day for his efforts, to complement the two first place finishes he had when he debuted in May what is now considered in some circles as the fastest circuit racing car in the English speaking Caribbean.

Another dominant performance by David Summerbell.

In the Improved Production Class 45 races for street cars, Team Myzery's Raymond Donaldson in a silver Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution 7 won both races, leading team mate Charles Maxwell in the yellow Petrojam Ethanol Ltd/Print Big Graphics Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution 5 across the line. Third place in both races was Victor Handell in the silver Cemix/Tile City Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution 7. A total of 13 competitors did battle in this class.

Chin in the foreground, Rodney and Blake.

Motorcycle rider Stephan Chin returned to racing at Dover Raceway after an absence of about three years and immediately stamped his authority on the field when he won pole position and continued by winning the two motorcycle races run: one in the dry and the second under wet conditions. His Holey Bulla sponsored Honda CBR600 RR was skillfully maneuvered on the track by the lanky Chin, who was injured in competition at the track before. Second place was Adrian Blake on the "Greased Lightening" bike and third was Robert Mc Donald on a Suzuki in race 1, while in race 2 it was winner of the two races at the May 25 meet, Haliquin "Pugu" Rodney, in second place on the "Money Bike" and Emil Janniere third on his Honda CBR 900.

The four fastest drivers at Dover on August 3. Left to right: Christopher Campbell, Guy Fraser, Douglas Gore & David Summerbell. They all drove different models of Mitsubishi's Lancer Evolution.