AFTER snatching the Dover track record from David Summerbell Jnr in August, Doug “Hollywood” Gore plans to outfit his Audi TT DTM with a sexy set of Aluminium Alloy rims for this final race meet in the 2011 series.

Gore will be hounded, however, by the upgraded Evolution 8, whose driver Summerbell Jnr has blood in his eyes to reclaim the record.

After surpassing BMW in the September sales figures locally, Audi has also shown its prowess on the circuit, through the TT, and intends to continue demonstrating its strength with the addition of these 13-inch rims that Gore hopes will arrive in the island in time for Dover.

Supported by the ability to better balance the DTM race car with more grip on the track, these aluminum alloy rims will jet the ATL-sponsored Audi around the challenging chicane, should they arrive in time for the circuit battle.

With the improved acceleration, aided by a wider contact patch from the tyres, the WATA-marked Audi should cut down on the wheel spin coming out of the corners, as there will be more mechanical grip from the rubber.

The additional rubber on the track, from the increased rim size, will enable the Pace Lubricants-filled Audi to smoothly roll over the rough areas of the Dover circuit and the TT will respond better to the changes in the surface. Its manoeuvrability will be enhanced at high speeds and with higher speeds, bigger rims will come in handy for a faster power down.

“David upped the game with his new gearbox and we are doing the same. We are still waiting on our little edge, that is the rims, but it might not work out for this meet. So let’s see what will happen, as I am going for the win,” said Hollywood Gore.

Notwithstanding this epic battle, “King” David will be armed and ready for the duel with the four-ringed racer, in his quest to reclaim the track record.

The installation of the short racer six-speed sequential gearbox on the Total-sponsored Mitsubishi Evolution 8 makes Summerbell Jnr a major force for Doug to contend with. Driving with the more convenient forward and backward shift lever for gear selection, there is no chance of the defending Dover champion missing a gear.

This very expensive gearbox will increase Summerbell’s lap time as the gears will be changed much faster, with no clutch to slow his coordination time. Summerbell’s chief mechanic, Garnett Johnson, and crew mate Carl Gordon believe that the shift lever gear set-up will take at least a second off David’s lap time, as the gears are very short.

“We put in this gearbox to make sure we can reclaim the track record and retain the Championship,” Summerbell said with a smile.

“We know for sure it should help in the time, it’s faster to change the gears so it saves a little time on each lap. We got the car back a little late so we were not able to do as much testing as we wanted to, but it should be very exciting, I’m certainly excited,” said Summerbell.

Equipped with the option to upgrade the gearbox as time progresses, Summerbell will be gunning for domination as he marks a bull’s eye around the track record and the 2011 Championship. The breaks on the Evolution have also been improved with the previously damaged discs being replaced by a limited slip disc and all overheating problems have also been corrected.

In contrast to Summerbell’s lever shift, the Audi TT DTM carries a paddle shifter by the steering wheel, making it easier for the Montegonian to change gears. Gore’s set-up is similar to that of the Formula 1 cars, which are equipped with two paddles on either side of the steering, the left paddle shifts up and right shifts down. This quicker, more consistent form of gear shifting is used on the higher-end race cars.

With this much performance enhancement done on the Audi and the Evolution, the race is for the swift, as well as those who can endure, and fans wait with bated breath to see who will bullet through the checkered flag first.