Digicel Williams International: Regional Teams Confirmed

Reigning Champion David Summerbell Jnr of Jamaica heads the regional entry for the second round of the 2010 Seaboard Marine Caribbean Motor Racing Championship (CMRC), feature event of the Barbados Auto Racing League's (BARL) Digicel Williams International Race Meet, slated for August 28/29.

Summerbell arrives for BARL's eighth annual International leading the Driver standings for the third year in a row, while Guyana tops the Country points for the first time, after three of its four drivers scored in the opener at Dover Raceway in Jamaica; and there's good news for Bushy Park fans, with the return for the first time since 2007 of Mark Vieira.

With the regional cars now shipping, BARL's own pre-event build-up continues tomorrow (August 13) with a chance for fans to hear Mark Maloney's thoughts on the race meet and have a close look at his Mazda RX-3 race car and his equally impressive road-going Porsche; he will be the star turn at the weekly after-work lime opposite H & B Hardware at Warrens, St Michael, with cars on display from around 4.00pm and refreshments on sale.

Keen to capitalise on its early lead, the Guyana Motor Racing & Sports Club (GMR&SC) is fielding five drivers. Popular in Barbados, and with five Bushy Park wins to his credit since 2003 – easily the best record of the regional drivers – Vieira has had a lean time of it lately, while developing his Digicel RX-8. Currently fourth in the CMRC standings, he placed third two-wheel-drive (2wd) in the first two races at Dover, winning the third.

While Vieira has more race wins in Barbados than other regional drivers, team-mate Andrew King has the best lap times; second overall and highest-placed 2wd runner in CMRC 2009, two engine failures at Dover left his Singer Caribbean/GT & T Cell Link RX-7 sidelined, so he will be eager to improve on last year's two third places at Bushy Park.

Of the local and regional drivers entered this year, King is fifth on the fastest laps table, behind Roger Mayers (4wd record, 40.996s), and Stuart Williams (2wd record, 41.542s), Barry Mayers (41.960s) and Mark Maloney (42.014s). King has lapped faster, though, his 41.864s among times disallowed when some drivers missed the weighbridge after qualifying last August . . . and that puts the four fastest 2wd cars within less than half-a-second.

Guyana's team is completed by ex-bike racer Kevin Jeffrey, its top-scorer in May with three second-place finishes in the 4wd class – he is third overall in the Top Power Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VIII – Paul Vieira and Shawn King, both Canada-based. Brother to Mark, Vieira is making his Bushy Park debut in the Carib RX-7 in which he won the GMR&SC Group 4 title last year, while King, returning to Barbados for a third time in his RX-7, can make a contribution to Guyana's points total, despite being less experienced than his team-mates.

Summerbell's hat-trick of wins (outright and 4wd) gave him a maximum score of 30 in the Total/PPG Paints Evo VIII in May; he enjoyed another successful day at the Dover Independence meet 10 days ago, with a memorable charge to second place from the pit lane in the second Thundersports race. While Bushy Park is the track which least suits his Evo VIII's Time Attack heritage, victory in last year's third race made him the only driver of the current crop to have won CMRC races at all three host circuits.

The other strong performer in the Jamaican team in May was Peter Rae (RX-7); one of three two-wheel-drive class winners (along with Marks Maloney and Vieira), second in the other races, he lies second overall, four points behind Summerbell. While a newcomer to Bushy Park, his great experience, in both karts and race cars, at a wide variety of tracks in the region and beyond, should stand him in good stead.

The Jamaica Race Drivers Club (JRDC) will fields only three drivers in Barbados, the last being Doug Gore; in May, assorted issues with his Evo X caused him to take over the Slam Condoms/Sherwin Williams Paints/Boomerang Tires/Sunoco/Advance Performance/Tropical Battery Evo V from younger brother Matthew, only to fall foul of CMRC regulations about switching cars, so lost the points from two second-place finishes. While Team Mobay Racing then worked hard on both cars, the Evo X lost third gear at the Independence race meet, so Gore will drive the older car.

Final regional entry is the Trinidad & Tobago Automobile Sports Association's (TTASA) Jody Ali (Subaru Impreza); since the closure of its Wallerfield race track, Trinidad's drivers have concentrated on other disciplines. While this will be Ali's circuit debut, the former Dexterity Champion and Top Drifter also has drag racing experience, setting the lowest time (8.9secs) and highest speed (164mph) ever for a car in St Lucia in February in a Toyota Supra.

Digicel Williams International Race Meet timeline

Friday, August 13 – 4:00pm: Meet the Drivers promo, Warrens, St Michael
Friday, August 20 – 4:00pm: Meet the Drivers promo, Warrens, St Michael
Saturday, August 28 – 1:00pm: Qualifying, Bushy Park, St Philip
Sunday, August 29 – 8.00am: Digicel Williams International Race Meet
Monday, August 30 – 7.00pm: Prizegiving

Seaboard Marine Caribbean Motor Racing Championship Positions after one round (May 24, Dover Raceway, Jamaica)

Driver
1st, * David Summerbell (JAM) - 30
2nd, Peter Rae (JAM) - 26
3rd, * Kevin Jeffrey (GUY) - 61
4th, Mark Vieira (GUY) - 22
5th, Paul Vieira (GUY) - 18
6th, Mark Maloney (BAR) - 16
* four-wheel-drive class
Country
1st, Guyana - 64
2nd, Jamaica - 56
3rd, Barbados - 16