The first meet of the 2009 Lime /Jamaica Race Driver’s Club National Circuit Racing Championship scheduled for Easter Sunday and Monday, April 12 & 13, at Dover Raceway in St. Ann, is set to break records set last year when the sport of motor racing achieved historic levels of attendance, competition and exposure.  With record attendance figures at events, the inaugural Caribbean Motor racing Championship running successfully in three countries (Jamaica, Barbados & Guyana), the visit of the Red Bull Formula 1 race car piloted by Sebastian Buemi to the streets of New Kingston, the visit of Speed TV’s Jason Britton to Jamwest Speedway for the filming of the Nevasatisfy’d bike and drag racing show and the successful running of a full calendar of events in go karting, dexterities, sprints and rallies, one would think that 2008 would be a hard act to follow.  But if pre event rumors are anything to go by, the Easter Dover race meet will surpass previous records in many aspects.

The Modified Production Class 2 and Improved Production 33 classes are set to be run as separate classes, as the number of competitors expected from those known to have prepared and are preparing cars for the meet has already warranted a race just for these classes alone, with a bevy of Hondas in all sizes, shapes and forms expected to stamp their dominance at the 13 corner track. Word out though is that the Mitsubishi, Suzuki, Toyota, Nissan and BMW marquees especially want nothing of the sort to happen, and amazing horsepower figures have been seen in recent weeks at the dyno, as testing and tuning have been at an accelerated pace for a few weeks now. Competitors have spent exorbitant sums on new engines, suspension and steering components, engine management systems, wheels and tyres, lightened body panels, driveline components and just about every single aspect of their racecars have been improved on since the last meet of 2008.

JRDC secretary David Summerbell has been busy doing a complete overhaul of the Motor Sales & Service Ltd/Flow/Ciclon Energy Drink/AMS Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution 8. It is ready for testing at press time and has been fitted with a Gemini six speed dog engagement gearbox amoung other upgrades in an attempt to keep David as “The King.” May Pen’s Peter “Bull” Thompson has been busy looking at the wax job on his turbocharged mazda RX7, eagerly awaiting to unleash its power on the Mitsubishis that have stole the spotlight from him for the past two years.

Race shops all over the Kingston & St. Andrew metropolitan area have been a buzz of activity, such as the P&L race camp, Horse P Racing, Rae Racing and the Bowla race team.  Several potent Hondas, Subaru Imprezas and Mitsubishi Lancer Evolutions, along with a few Suzuki Swifts, Mitsubishi Mirages, Toyota Starlets, Mazdas and BMWs have all been observed or rumored to be preparing for battle. Let’s just say that, for instance, there are things other than tiles at Tile City.

Team Mobay Racing has rolled out five (5) immaculately prepared Mitsubishi Lancer Evolutions, two of which are to be piloted by Doug Gore and one each by Chris Campbell, Guy Graser and Gary Williams. Dean Corrodus’ Kumho Tyres Honda Civic Type R joins the Diamond Star brigade

The Bailey brothers were seen testing at Dover last Sunday, along with Richard Martin in his Datsun 510 with a new engine running well, Chris Campbell with a widebody kit and a host of other upgrades, as well as Dwain Rowe in his Toyota Starlet now running a 6 speed gearbox powered from a 7a engine atop which sits a version of Toyota’s 20 valve, twin cam head.

Peter Rae is reaching back for the Greg Mahfood owned, light chassis Mazda RX7 which he ran once last year, while it is said that Dieter Wilson has now turbocharged his Pro Challenge truck and installed an air shifter and Dean Shaw has installed a larger engine in his version. David Anderson was seen at the recent JMMC hill climb stretching the legs of the ex-David Summerbell Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution 6 ½ and looked very fast, so also was Charles Maxwell in the E10, turbocharged front wheel drive Mitsubishi Mirage.

David Anderson

Charles Maxwell

Alan Chen and Xavia Murray are reported to be bringing their turbo charged, rear wheel drive Toyota Corolla GTS’s to the track, one with horsepower figures in the region of a little over 400, while Browns Town residents Nigel and Ian Edwards both are blowin’ breeze as well in their VW Golf and Ford Laser respectively.  Both were also out testing their cars at the recent hillclimb. Not to be outdone, expect fellow Browns Town resident Orville “Piggy” Johnson to have a minimum of 300 of his personal fans cheering him on, while his neighbour Keith Mills grows his own fan base.

Nigel Edwards

Ian Edwards

Orville “Piggy” Johnson.

There is also a challenge coming out of Challenger Garage in Montego Bay to see who has the fastest 20 valve engine racecar amoungst them, so expect to see both front and rear wheel drive Toyota Corolla platforms go head to head to settle that debate.

There is so much to report on, time and space does not permit. Stay tuned for the second installment in  Dover’s Easter Monday showdown preview.

For further information, call Daneisha at the Jamaica Race Driver’s Club office at 924-4572 or visit the club’s website at www.jrdc.org.