AT the last Dover Raceway meet in May, two records were rewritten: lap record and the modified production class one.

David Summerbell Jr his Lancer Evolution VIII put in a massive effort during qualifying. On the third lap, it all came together. The previous record of 1:18:114 seconds held by Doug 'Hollywood' Gore was erased. Summerbell etched a new one of 1:17:735.

"I was excited when I saw the lap time flash up on the in-car display," Summerbell Jr told Auto. "My father's racing numbers were sevens, so it was an omen."

Summerbell Jr said a combination of factors contributed to his feat.

"It reflects the efforts of my crew," he said. "I also accelerated and braked consistently, as the key is really to save the tyre grip.

In the modified production event, Tarik Minott's performance came in the heat of battle.

"I didn't know I had broken the record until after the event," he said.

He had been too busy fending off Sebastien Rae's challenge. Rae is in the MP2 class. In the end, Minott broke the record he had held to 1:28:06 seconds. The key factor, much like Summerbell Jr, were weight, tyres and his six-speed sequential gearbox.

"I know where to put the car. I had a set of fresh tyres on the Ignis. This meant I could concentrate on the cornering apexes. The gearbox already allows me to brake late, and accelerate pretty early. Of course, we took 70lb out of the car to try to reach the class minimum."

For this meet, Minott

is optimistic.

"We are trying to remove more weight and if we are successful in doing that, we will be faster," he affirmed.