The Jamaican Audi is alive again

By Johan Laubscher

Doug Gore and his ATL Audi before the crash

The Caribbean has a healthy motorsport scene with many high powered race cars. During 2011 Jamaican race driver Doug Gore was signed by ATL Automotive to drive their newly acquired Audi race car. The car itself was an ex-ABT Sportsline DTM Audi TT, formally known as an ABT-Audi TT-R. Different versions of these race cars competed in the German DTM series from 2000-2004 and since in many other national GT championships around the world.

The car was a technological leap for the cars racing in the Caribbean and the showdown between Gore's Audi and David Summerbell in his Lancer was a spectator draw card of note. The car debuted in 2011 and proved its pace, but only competed in Jamaica. For 2012 the car had been cleared to compete in the Caribbean series and the scene was set for a spectacular year. However tragedy struck at the very first round. Doug was involved in an incident during the very first race on the approach to the first corner, we included the video below. The resulting accident saw Doug crashing into the barriers. Along with the crash the chassis of the TT also suffered severe damage.

The incident resulted in the car missing the rest of the 2012 season and heading back to Germany for repairs. As 2013 got underway Doug Gore announced that he was heading to Germany to test his car at Hockenheim. He has arrived in Germany with accompanying photos which have been published by Jamwest Speedway. The photos show Doug and his team at the ABT Sportsline headquarters as they look at the older ABT race cars on display and then finally a look at Doug’s repaired car, now wearing a silver and red livery.

It is brilliant to see that Doug and his Audi racing career appear to be on track. We hope that they will also be publishing photos of the Hockenheim test session later in the week.

New Bodywork

Update: Further photos have been published now revealing the new look for the Doug Gore ABT-Audi TT-R. The car is receiving new bodywork similar to that used by Vláďa Vitver on his TT-R in the Czech Republic, more can be read about that car HERE. The new bodywork resembles the appearance of a second generation Audi TT. Below we have included the photos of the new bodywork being fitted in Germany, the last four photos listed. 

More information:
Jamwest Speedway FB page
ATL Automotive FB page
Doug Gore FB page

Crash Video

Photos from Germany 

Photos by Jamwest Speedway and ATL Automotive