IT was not perfect picture for Jamaican contingent in the third-and-final leg of the Caribbean Motor Racing Championships (CMRC) at the South Dakota Race Track in Guyana last weekend.

Though not eligible to CMRC showdown due to weight restriction, Doug Gore and his Audi TT DTM set a new track record of 33.386 seconds while, the rest of the local racers, suffered major mishaps.

“We broke the record during the qualifiers and I am extremely pleased about that. The car is amazing on this surface and I am glad the Guyanese got a taste of what the Audi can do,” Gore said.

Jamaica’s darkest hour came with the realisation that David Summerbell Jr- who leads the standing at 44 points – would be unable to defend his Driver Championship.

On needing a second place finish, Summerbell developed engine problems rendering his Evolution 8 immobile. Barbados’ Roger Mayers took the Driver’s Championships in his menacing black Ford Focus.

“I was so close. It wouldn’t have taken much for me to win, but try as we may we just couldn’t get the car fixed in time. The bearing is a really important part, we got it though, but we needed a miracle to make it work in time for the last race. Believe me the guys worked very hard to try and make it happen,” said Summerbell Jr.

Andre Anderson suffered a similar fate in his Mitsubishi Mivec. He spun shortly after the start of the second race and ran into Guyanese Mark Vieira’s Mazda RX8. Both drivers had to miss the third-and-final race

Halquin Rodney’s due to an injured wrist in the qualifiers, had to compete in the less-pressuring Super Bike B Class. His Yamaha R6 developed braking problems by the fifth lap of the race.

Barbados’ Mark Maloney, in his fire breathing Mazda RX3, was also mechanically impaired and could not add to his previously amassed 31 points, the closest rival to Summerbell Jr, to claim the Driver’s Championship.

“We have been having some problems with the engine and it crashed. We had to do some emergency work right throughout the night to try and get it fixed. We entered the first two races but couldn’t make it for the third,” said Maloney.

The very consistent and reliable Peter Rae in his Mazda RX7 did not escape either. Half way through the final race his car landed him into the sand banking due to mechanical difficulties.

Stefan Chin and Adrian Blake experienced problems of different nature in the Super Bike “A”.

“The bike engines must be 600cc. But you can do whatever you want to do to enhance the engine. You can do cylinder headwork or the pistons for example to get more power out of the bike. These kinds of improvement work widen the field a bit and determine who will lead the race. Unfortunately for us, we don’t have that kind of performance” explained Chin.

Barbados walked away with all three CMRC Championships – the Country Championship, the Driver’s Championship, and the Group 2 Championship.