Driver thanks God - Nigel Edwards grateful after surviving crash

Glenroy Sinclair, Assignment Coordinator

Moments after he looked at his damaged Volkswagen GTI Golf race car, which rolled several times during the running of one of the IP 29 races at Dover Raceway last Sunday, Nigel Edwards realised that it was divine intervention which saved his life and not the vehicle's safety features.

"The impact was so hard, believe you me. When I really took a look at the car after the whole incident I said to myself 'God was really at work'," said Edwards, who is one of the local heroes of the Brown's Town community, St Ann.

The auto parts dealer and mechanic said he has always been a firm believer in the Almighty, but this incident can be interpreted as a sign for him to get closer to God. He now plans to go to church and offer special thanks for surviving the accident.

Edwards is still unable to give a detailed account of the incident. "All I can say it was just a racing incident, where two cars made contact on the track," Edwards told Automotives on Friday.

Though clearly shaken at first, the close shave has not cooled Edwards' ardour for his first love - circuit racing. In a post-race interview with Trudy Williams, the Jamaica Race Drivers' Club (JRDC) publicist, Edwards explained that the incident actually occurred shortly after the start of the race. He and another driver saw an opening and sped towards it. As they raced side by side their vehicles' wheels made contact and Edwards' car rolled.

While his car was flipping over several times, Edward was blank; nothing flashed before his eyes. "It happened so fast that nothing came to my thoughts. I just held on until the car stopped rolling. What I can say is that at one stage of the race I saw my car getting closer and closer to the car in front and this was happening so quickly. The next thing I know there was an impact and my car rolled," said Edwards.

"No, no, I will still continue to race. Right now I am searching for a new car," said Edwards.

GREAT DRIFTING

The show put on by the group of drifters from the United States was very entertaining. "The drifters were good and had the spectators on tiptoes," said David Summerbell, whose Total Team dominated Dover for the second consecutive meet.

Among the outstanding drivers were Summerbell, who dominated the Thundersport I Class; his teammate Andre Anderson, who made a clean sweep in the Modified Production (MP) 3 Class; Dion Gardner and Lincoy Small, who shared top honours in the MP4 Class; Kyle Gregg, Sebastian Rae and Vivian Mitchell in MP 2.

Kishore Williams also made a clean sweep in MP1, while David Bell was the top motorcyclist. Most impressive of all was Vivian Mitchell, who was outstanding in Thundersport Class One, MP 2 and Bracket 29 classes.