Doug Gore and his famed Audi TT DTM travelled far and wide to the East Bank of the Demarara in Guyana and demolished the South Dakota racing circuit track record, to post a time of 33.386, to qualify in pole position for the highly anticipated final race of the Caribbean Motor Racing Championships (CMRC) on Sunday.  

On a day mixed with high adrenaline and other gases, the Group 4 (Thundersport) CMRC cars took to the track in qualifying action, amidst the wide eyed expectations of fans who were seeing the four ringed wonder in action for the first time on a very flat smooth track that was perfect for the TT’s engineering.

Roger Mayers’ Ford Focus from Barbados was pitched as a definite contender, but the Jamaican in the blue, red and white ATL sponsored Audi rang rings around the competition and showed Guyana why he is called “Hollywood.” “It was great, I broke the record and I am satisfied with my performance” said Doug Gore.

David Summerbell is working miracles with his Evolution 8, qualifying fourth on the grid, as he makes the best of the regular 2 litre engine that has been revving the race car since the October 2011 Dover meet. The battle will rage at the top as he squares off with Guyanese Mark Vieira and Bajan Roger Mayers, who line up on the grid, in third and second positions respectively.

Andre Anderson made a very confident drive, hugging the very troublesome corner with style and showed his driving prowess down the straights to secure a spot in the top half of the 18 member grid, ahead of drivers like Bajan Douglas Maloney and Guyanese Kevin Jefferey.

“I got a nice spot on the grid, I know I wouldn’t have beaten some of the more experienced drivers with more powerful cars but it was a good race and I am positive that I will do well,” said Andre, who drives a Mitsubishi Mivec.

Peter Rae, while spending most of Saturday’s qualifying day at the Dyno with his Mazda RX7, also placed in the top half of the grid. Motorcyclists Stefan Chin and Adrian Blake did not fare so well in the qualifiers, but look ahead to improved performances on race day. Halquin Rodney fell victim to a high sided crash during one of the qualifying laps, but was okay and ready for race day action.

“I know the competition is stiff but I will do well and make my country proud. It’s not my bike so I’m not fully familiar with it as yet, but I will do my best as always” said Rodney. Carlos Rodrigues, a motorcyclist from Guyana, had an excellent race, despite feeling a section of the track a bit slippery. “It was good, there seems to be some oil on the gooseneck, but other than that it felt good” said Rodrigues.

Barbadian Mark Maloney, who is second in the Driver points standing and in hot pursuit of David Summerbell atop the table, unfortunately suffered severe damage to his engine and was unable to compete “Maloney style” in the qualifying race. However, down but not out, Mark pulled out all the stops to return to the track on race day. “We are doing all we can to get things back on track to race on Sunday” said Mark.