All eyes on ‘King’ Summerbell

After an almost perfect weekend of practising and fine-tuning preparations for today's Labour Day race meet at the Dover Raceway, St Ann, David 'King' Summerbell looks all set to dominate the Thundersport II events.

Summerbell and his daughter, Samantha, were among a number of drivers who turned up at the track yesterday to add the polishing touches to their racing machine. While the moment was good for some, it was disappointing and frustrating for others.

"We left the dyno about 1 a.m. yesterday really disappointed. The car is ready and good, but a damage to the gas tank will not allow us to compete. After reviewing the situation for several hours, we took a hard decision not to race," commented Peter 'Bull' Thompson, one of the few drivers whom die-hard racing fans were hoping would take the fight to Summerbell.

The task of ensuring that Total-sponsored driver Summerbell does not make a mockery of the other drivers will now rest on the shoulders of Peter Rae, Chris Campbell, Charles Chen and the Montego Bay-based crew.

good fight

"We had some mechanical problems the last race. Since then, we have rebuilt the engine and I am coming all out to put up a good fight," said Rae, the man who will be behind the wheel of the DHL/Epping RX7 Mazda.

Chen, who staved off Summerbell at the previous race meet and denied him of the chequered flag in one of the Thundersport II events, had been ill all week, but turned up at the track yesterday and seems keen on upsetting the apple cart again.

Summerbell's teammate, Kyle Gregg, who was also at the track yesterday, made note of Matthew Gore, Ian Banks, the Summerbells, Dean Shaw, Vivian Mitchell and Fraser McConnell, who were spotted at the track, completing their preparations.

"Fraser McConnell looked good," said Gregg.

Another driver, Nigel Edwards, stressed that based on his observation, Matthew Gore was the competitor who arrested his attention during the practice session yesterday.

Meanwhile, Sebastian Rae, who had a nasty accident on the track at the last race meet, has rebuilt a new race car and is ready for battle.