KERN RAMLOCHAN Tuesday, October 10 2006

JAMAICANS dominated the Seafreight Fast Invitational Circuit Racing at the Wallerfield Racing Facility on Sunday winning all three Class Three events.

David Summerbelle in his Mitsubishi EVO-6 claimed two victories and Peter Rae in his Mazda RX-7 clinched the other.

“I knew I had a greater advantage over the other drivers because my car is a four-wheel drive and I knew it would handle better under the wet conditions,” said Summerbelle on Sunday.

The Jamaican ace said he had beenlooking forward to his last race because the track would dried out and the event would have been open to anyone especially those drivers who anticipated dry weather.

Summerbelle also expressed his thanks to sponsors Seafreight Shipping and the Trinidad and Tobago Automobile Sports Association (TTASA) for their hospitality and for making it possible for him to race in Trinidad and Tobago.

Rae felt that the weather put a damper on the racing since his car is a dry-weather vehicle and he had to combat problems such as the frosting of his windscreen when driving.

However, he recovered from this setback to claim victory in the main event of the day.

Rae came up against local driver Ravi Singh in his newly restored third generation RX-7 and both drivers produced a hotly contested battle.

Singh was off to a blistering start and left the pack with Rae his only challenger. But Rae exhibited better braking and turning abilities on the track to eventually take control of the race from Singh.

On his victory Rae thanked his sponsors Seafreight Shipping, Primera Oil Company and Dhering, Bunting and Golding for allowing him the opportunity to compete in Trinidad.

He said he is used to competing against EVO-3s with 650 horse power that blow past him on the straight. His car on Sunday has only 250 horse power so he normally uses his superior handling of the vehicle to come out on top.

Becks Gonsalves from St Vincent and the Grenadines did not participate in Sunday’s programme as his team was unable to complete building his engine in time.

“This was unfortunate because my car has the track record at Wallerfield and there was no car that could have beaten me,” said Gonsalves on Sunday.

The SVG driver said his car was held in Customs for two weeks for no apparent reason with officials even blaming the earthquake last week for not having it released.

“We tried our best and stayed at Wallerfield working non-stop to build the engine but it was impossible as we ran out of time,” said Gonsalves.

He added that he would make it up to the public and would return in November.

Meanwhile members of the local and regional racing community expressed sadness that the Wallerfield facility would be closed to racing soon.

Rae and Summerbelle said they were disappointed that such a historic track which has an ideal location would be lost because of plans to construct a University of Trinidad and Tobago campus on the site.

President of the Jamaican Race Drivers Club Hilary Jardine described the decision as “foolish” since he felt they were closing the option of motor racing as a tourism event and are pushing drivers out of a controlled race environment.

Despite the inclement weather on Sunday patrons turned up in their numbers to see quality racing and to support their favourite local and regional drivers.

Fans were treated to several exhibition events such as burn-outs, motorcycle displays, kid’s fest, BMX exhibition, as well as music from local bands High Rise and Wheeting alongside food prepared by curried duck champion Sham and also a para-glider display.



Summarised Results —

Race 1/Group 1: 1 Aslim Ali; 2 Vinda Ramsingh II ; 3 Keeva Boodram

Race 1/Group 2B: 1 Mootie Maraj; 2 Yazid Ali; 3 Aslim Ali

Race 1/Group 2A: 1 Christian Bourne; 2 Ruddy Beekee; 3 Ravi Singh

Race 1/Group 3: 1 David Summerbelle; 2 Nizam Mohammed; 3 Link Sampath

Race 2/ Group 1: 1 Aslim Ali; 2 Frankie Boodram; 3 Fareed Shah

Race 2/Group 2B: 1 Yazid Ali; 2 Moorie Maraj; 3 Erica Dinoo

Race 2/Group 2A: 1 Christian Bourne; 2 Rudy Beekee; 3 Haniff Abraham

Race 2/ Group 3: 1 David Summerbelle; 2 Peter Rae; 3 Link Sampath

Race 3/ Group 1: 1 Frankie Boodram; 2 Aslim Ali; 3 Fareed Shah

Race 3/ Group 2B: 1 Mootie Maraj; 2 Yazid Ali; 3 Erica Dinnoo

Race 3/ Group 2A: 1 Christian Bourne; 2 Rudy Beekee; 3 Vishnu Joseph

Race 3/ Group 3: 1 Peter Rae; 2 Ravi Singh; 3 Link Sampath