Glenroy Sinclair, Assignment Coordinator
The rivalry between two of Jamaica's best-known racers, David Summerbell Jr and Doug 'Hollywood' Gore, ended pre-maturely at last Sunday's Dover meet as both drivers were involved in a spill.
Gore and Summerbell whet the appetites of the racing fans in the first race, showcasing their skills by racing bumper to bumper while negotiating the sharp corners.
The face-off continued in the second race and that's where it ended. Summerbell, who had assumed the lead in his Mitsubshi Evolution 8, was trying to prevent Gore in his Evolution 5 from overtaking. But while negotiating one of the right-angled corners, Gore's car touched the rear of Summerbell's car, which immediately spun and crashed to the side of the track.
"For a moment I was frozen. I just saw Summerbell's car spinning in front of me and was wondering, what next?," said Gore, who sustained a fractured hand during the incident.
Torn ligament
In addition to the fracture, Gore explained that he tore a ligament in his arm and the area between his thumb and wrist was also injured.
The crash prevented both drivers from taking further part in the meet.
"The accident was a mistake on Doug's part, but after the incident we shook hands and we are OK again," said Summerbell who, along with his new sponsor, Total, is repairing the vehicle for the second leg of the Caribbean Motor Racing Championship. This meet is scheduled for Barbados later this month.
Gore and Summerbell were not the only mishaps of the the meet. David Anderson was involved in an accident which saw his car rolling over, while one of the motorcyclists narrowly missed hitting a marshal.
With the exit of Summerbell and Gore, Chris Campbell in his Mitsubishi Evolution Four stole the spotlight by registering three wins on the card. Among his wins were the two Thundersport races.
"It was a great feeling, it was one of the best moments of my life," said Campbell, who was racing at Dover for the fifth time.
Looking good
Besides Campbell's performance, Peter 'Zoom Zoom' Rae looked good in his RX7 Mazda, which was very competitive. Guy Fraser has proven that he has perhaps the fastest car at Dover. After a spin-out in one of the events, he bounced back, overtaking almost everybody in the race, and at one stage looked a winner, but his car developed mechanical problem and that forced him out of contention.
Other winners on the programme were Stephen Bansie, who won the two IP 27 races, Dean Corrodus, Brian Foster, Chris Maxwell, Natasha Chang, Doug Gore, motorcyclists Adrian Blake and Harlequin Rodney.