Mario James, Gleaner Writer

Summerbell and Doug Gore up front going through the pace lap. - Roger Robinson/Freelance Photographer

We heard that this meet would be a killer. Stories were flying about the place about two-door evo's, tube chassis mini trucks and Guru rotary engines; who was running what and the class they were running in. And then there were the unknowns; the foreign contingent coming to baptise Dover with the waters of defeat. It was revolution against reciprocation; Honda versus Toyota, evolution versus rotary. Lines were drawn, *lo** was about to be let!

The Barbados contingent, represented by the Maloney clan, came in a father and son configuration to do just that. With two fabulously prepared cars that were the belles of the ball, so to speak, and they came loaded for bear. Make no mistake, the Caribbean contingent 'BRUNG IT'. The 1.8 litre turbo Audi A4 Quattro touring car, driven by Doug Maloney, and its stablemate, the knee-quivering, three-rotor Red Bull-sponsored Rx-3-bodied race car driven by his son, Mark, both with sequential boxes came to Dover to blow off doors and take no names.

experience

Guyanese Andrew King's Singer 13B powered Rx-7 rounded out the 'Caribbean Invasion'. Doug and Matthew Gore brought experience etched on their faces from the last race meet and two 500+ hp evo sixes; Tedroy Burton came with last meet's all-conquering Honda; Bull Thompson brought his immaculately prepared 3rd gen RX- 7 along with Dean Shaw and Dieter Wilson come with his fascinating space frame, 1400cc mini trucks.

There was even 'Team Brown's Town', a race-ready Mazda 323 with a Toyota-powered, Weber carburetted 4AGZE engine in it, prepped by the locals and brought for kicks. But in David Summerbell's pit, a gunmetal grey, Flow-insignia'd, Motor Sales- stickered time attack esvolution 8 crouched, brooding. It looked like a gunfighter, dressed to the nines, standing alone at the local saloon ...

And then, there was testing. The Maloneys' car came in a lot of big and little pieces; last to arrive was the famed three rotor which, it is rumoured, arrived to Jamaica from New Zealand. The car was put together and driven here for the very first time! During the test and tune week preceding the meet, pandemonium reigned as some of the stalwarts and newbies were claimed by the track.

The 1400cc Kawasaki engine in Shaw's space frame truck let go, leaving only Dieter Wilson's ride flying the flag from that particular camp. Peter Thompson's 13B also succumbed to the mysterious aura that surrounds Dover. Of the rotary drivers, he is the most experienced on the track, and arguably one of the best. The exit of one of the greats threw a pallor over the rest of the proceedings.

pomp and pageantry

The day dawned bright and clear and the meet started with enough pomp and pageantry to please all but the most jaded enthusiast, and was done with enough panache to fill Automotives with a certain amount of civic pride. The entrance bridge that transport minister, Mike Henry, promised the JDRC was in place and functioning, and Toyota has refurbished the old bridge that adorns the northern section of the track. This speaks well of the current state of motorsport in Jamaica. The sport seems to be moving from strength to strength.

The 'convoy' classes - Improved Production (IP) 27,33 and 37 - so called because the individual classes are melded together to make one big grid - is hard to follow.

lady racers

The lady racers did not do well this time around as the guys seemed to have upped the ante. Bowman Lee in her Tyre Warehouse-sponsored Integra, could only manage seventh in class in her first outing and fifth the second time around, having creditably finished both races.

Rhonda Nicholas in the Mitsubishi Mirage Auto Source/Advanced Performance-sponsored car DNF'd on both her showings, suffering gearbox problems after great starts in both events. Natasha Chang ran well out of the points in both races. Guy Fraser (evo 6) won the IP Convoy followed by Gary Williams (also an evo 6) with Tedroy Burton (Honda Civic) in third. Race two had Stephen Bansie (Subaru WRX Sti) stamping his class on the field with Gary Williams finishing in second and Desmond Bowla (BMW M3) finishing in third. Another notable finish was Team Bowla, claiming all three podium spots in the Modified Production 1 & 2 classes, with Chris, Desmond and Glenford Bowla, all in BMW's hunting amongst themselves for the top spots. This team is obviously operating at a different level!

super bikes

Bikers also made a return to the Brown's Town venue, as the big bore super bikes thundered across the hallowed grounds once more. In a classic duel of skill versus horsepower, Halquin Rodney mount overpowered the surgical finesse of Adrian Blake with Dennis Chin Quee bringing up the rear. Race two was little different, the front runners recapturing their spots while Chin Quee succumbed to the pressure of Andre Norman, who placed third in race two (Chin Quee actually placed fifth) and Bruce Evans coming home fourth.

But the story at Dover will always be told in the big bore classes, of which the Caribbean Circuit Championship car is one. The staccato idle of the 20B rotary mesmerised the crowd as it made its way to the starting grid of the first CCC race, its 'braap braap' bursts dissolving into a seamless siren-like wail as Mark Mahoney added some of the 2000 cc on the back straight.

The quality of the sound raised goose bumps all around Brown's Town. In contrast, the whistling whine coming from the mounts of both Summerbell and the Gore Bros were tame. Excitement reached fever pitch as the Bobby Marshal-driven pace car dove into the pits, the starter had a look-see as the field filed into the start - finish straight; one wave of the green valve, harnessed power was unleashed and there was a drag race to the first corner! Pole sitter Summerbell showed them the proper line through Goodyear corner, the car drifting slightly on exit as 525 well nourished horses fed the Time Attack evo 8 into Tyre Warehouse, the suspension coping well with the positive camber conditions as the car settled down nicely into the one possible line available to negotiate Pinky's bluff.

The rest of the field was now distanced as Summerbell's experience began to take its toll on the field, with only Gore being able to stay in touch. The screaming fire throwing RX-3 driven by Mark Maloney could barely stay on the lead lap as he was relegated to the also-ran position for the rest of the race. His father fared better than he, with Andrew King from Guyana placing third behind David and Gore. The hearts of Rotary fans everywhere broke wholesale as they realised that the maestro was back.

pure drama

The second running of this class was pure drama. On the start, Automotives will go out on a limb to say that Doug Gore picked the start, taking advantage of the 'loose laws' governing Dover's race starts and catapulted into the lead, entering the Goodyear curve first with Summerbell hounding him every step of the way.

Maloney seemed to have stepped up his game as well, but might have turned up his wick too much as the car caught fire on the straight after Pinky's Bluff. Only his quick thinking and a well- placed extinguisher averted disaster and the race was red flagged, to be restarted with six laps to go. The restart was a mirror image of the first, with Gore showing the way into the first turn and Summerbell, this time, slightly behind. It became a parade after that, with the wily Gore stretching his lead with each passing lap.

But his good fortune did not hold out as the car ran low on fuel, the corners messing with the Evo's power delivery as the low level could not keep the monster 4G63 fed. He was passed jubilantly by an obviously overjoyed Summerbell, who then floated to an easy victory. Guyanese Andrew King's Singer- sponsored entry finished third.

the finale

And then came the finale; the Maloney pit had put their shoulders to the wheel and fixed the problematic RX-3. So much testosterone was flowing on that grid that the race had to be restarted three times! During one of the restarts, it seems as if Maloney Senior tagged Mark in the RX-3, causing an entanglement with an unlucky Hollywood, putting both cars out of contention.

The RX3 suffered a broken front suspension, but, in a gallant spectacle of showmanship, was able to make it back to the track, complete with duct tape modifications to the front body work. Doug's mount, however, was done for the day. In a patriotic gesture Gary Williams lent his car to Hollywood for the restart.

But the final epic duel between rotary and evo fizzled as both leading evo's were sidelined with gearbox problems from the get-go, allowing the foreign contingent to snare the top two podium finishes for the first time that day.

The RX-3 ran fairly well, posting a best time of 1:22.597, its best time for the meet. Andrew King with a 13B harried him every step of the way and posted a better lap time of 1:22.446. In contrast, Summerbell, having made the repair himself, set off on a storming lap and clocked 1:21.235!

All in all, a thrilling encounter. The rivalries have been rekindled, and this only bodes well for the next event. On to Barbados!