Amongst the ferocity of the final day of the 2023 Caribbean Junior Karting Academy Trophy (CJKAT) at the Palisadoes International Raceway, Kingston, on Sunday, July 23, patrons in attendance were given a rare treat as several stars that had graduated the sport took to the track in the Rotax Senior class.

Names like, Fraser McConnell, Senna Summerbell, and Sara Misir added extra action to an already tense and competitive day.

“Mentally, just being here is an amazing feeling. This is where I grew up. This is where a lot of the best drivers in Jamaica grew up. So being here, winning in front of all the kids, and being just as fast as the Juniors in the slower karts was a great feeling. Physically, however, body is a bit mashed up, but that’s how it goes when you haven’t been in kart seat for a year,” said Summerbell.

He had no problems returning to his roots, easily dominating the races and carving out victory from no matter the position he started. Having long moved on to circuit racing, he joined his father, now holding the designation of the fastest man in Jamaica with the Dover Raceway lap record. He shocked the motorsports community with no title defence this year as he looked to overseas to move his career ahead.

“I did a lot of testing in Canada. I decided last minute not to do the season. Pretty much waiting for anyone to come challenge me at Dover or JamWest whenever someone has a car ready, we’re waiting for it. And we’re looking at other options. There are lots of guys out there I’d love to race against in the smaller classes, which is very entertaining,” said Summerbell.

While Summerbell has been in hiatus, McConnell has been anything but, having won the opening round of the series he regularly competes in NitroRX. He took the time out of his busy schedule to be a part of CJKAT. While he didn’t have the on-track success of Summerbell, he gave the fans plenty of his fast and aggressive driving style that has made him an international success.

“It was very good to be back. I did the math: It was nine years since I’ve been in a Rotax race at Palisadoes. It’s so great to see how proactive the JKA has been. Everyone involved is really making a big effort to push the sport because there’s a lot of talent in the Caribbean,” said McConnell.

Both drivers expressed that they were impressed with the current state of karting.