By Johan Laubscher
The Heroes of Speed was hosted in Jamaica on Monday, 21 October. It was the scene for the return of Doug Gore and the ATL Automotive ABT-Audi TT-R.
The Dover circuit in Jamaica hosted the Heroes of Speed race meeting. This event was held over the long public holiday Heroes Day weekend and featured the final round of the Jamaica Race Drivers Club (JRDC) 2013 Circuit Racing Championship.
It was the scene for the long-awaited return of Doug Gore and the ABT-Audi TT-R. The team had competed in the Jamaican and Caribbean series earlier this year, before they withdrew from recent Dover events due to a protest made by the team. The protest was regarding tyre allocation regulations, specifically the number of tyres allowed to be used during a race meeting. Despite the absence at the previous event, the ATL team was back on Monday and aimed to continue their unbeaten run in 2013. Doug Gore was entered in the Thundersport Two (TS2) and Modified Production Four (MP4) classes.
Qualifying got the day’s proceedings underway early on Monday morning. Doug Gore took pole position in the MP4 and TS2 classes, with a fastest time of 1:18.095, just under two seconds faster than David Summerbell.
The Thundersport race was held late on Monday afternoon and both Gore and Summerbell were on track. With ever decreasing light the race got underway. Gore led from the front, perused by a fast charging Summerbell, who had progressed well through the field. Summerbell managed to pass Gore into the first corner during the fourth lap and then the brief chase began. Gore was pushing very hard and clipped a wall on his left in the “Pinky's Bluff” section of the circuit, just a few corners later, causing a puncture and a subsequent spin, resulting in damage to the left rear of the Audi. The race was red flagged after only three completed laps and Doug Gore was classified in first place, as he had led the penultimate lap before the red flag. A video of the incident has been included below:
Special thanks to Jamaican Tuner who provided great coverage and updates from the event. Thanks as well to Jamaican Tuner admin member and photographer, Donavan Montague, for the great photos.
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