Speed kings set to light up Dover

Mario James, Gleaner Writer

For the season-ender 'Heroes of Speed', event at Dover Raceway in St Ann today, the apple cart has been upset. David Summerbell's famous AMS Evolution (Evo) VII is in transit to Guyana; Gary Williams, from team MoBay is in the same position.

Talk about Summerbell's Magnum sprint car making a triumphant return to the hallowed proving ground is for naught, as the former's record-breaking machine would have to be raced in a class that Summerbell has no points in, so it was deemed not worthwhile to resurrect. And his old-and-sold Evo VI could not be run from the former champ's camp as the current owner's sponsorship obligations ended

Negotiations. Summerbell is out.

Douglas Gore's erstwhile steed is also enroute to Guyana, but he has his new Evo X and it seems he will turn a wheel in anger as his ECU has been retuned by AMS and is back here, having been installed and tested on the weekend. But it is still not clear whether or not he will compete in Thundersport.

With 80 hp more than stock, Gore doesn't think he "will be 'running down any bulls', you know what I mean? But the car feels good ... I've bought tyres and I'm going to run IP27 first ... I'll do the qualifying and see how it feels from there."

Break-out capability

This means that IP27 points leader, Stephen Bansie, with his boxer engined Subaru 320 hp Impreza Spec C, is in for a warm time as Gore has nearly 400 hp on tap which should give him break-out capability.

Defending 2007 drivers' champion Guy Fraser is also competing in IP27. Bansie's ride has been immaculately prepared by long- time racing legend Ricardo 'Pretty Blue' Hamilton, and he knows a thing or three about making cars handle, so the race is not an open-and-shut case.

Gary Williams is looking to field a car for the event but, up to press time, it was not certain whether he would have been successful. Pointwise, IP27 with Williams running looks very uncertain as the presence of Gore in the bracket makes it possible for Williams to overhaul Bansie if he runs and finishes well. Tedroy Burton, if his Honda Civic holds together, should also finish strong and could be another spoiler in the IP27 race.

Dion Gardner, running the 'Baby Bomb' Mitsubishi Mirage, prepped and modded by Chress 'Bolt' White of AutoSource, should keep the flag flying with a repeat of the great performance he gave last meet in MP1 and IP33. The 'Mad Scientist' was in the lab concocting and scheming until the wee hours on Sunday, so 'Baby Bomb' should again thunder at Dover.

A showdown

The Cable and Wireless Thundersport offering should be a showdown between two old junkyard dogs, Peter Rae and Peter 'Bull' Thompson. It would seem as Thompson's fire-spitting Gen III roach will finally have its day in court, as the teething problems are sorted and the car is running well. It is now turbocharged, so the low torque the platform develops has been effectively negated without adversely affecting the handling that Thompson's 'gazelle' is known for.

Rae, though, is the racer's racer and with chassis tuner Charlie Downs coming to crew chief and set up the car, this isn't a bye race for Bull. Interesting times are ahead!

The Creative Production Training Centre and The Gleaner Online will be feeding video to the JRDC Jumbotron (big screen), so fans will not miss any of the action. A delayed web cast will grace The Gleaner Online Motorsport blog, complete with results.

Motorcycle race fans will get their money's worth as an overseas contingent is slated to give the local riders grief. Autocross will also return to Dover. A track should have been prepared that quadra-cycles could run on. The JRDC seems to be kicking this 'Heroes of Speed 'event into high gear!

mario.james@gleanerjm.com