New JamWest opens today - Circuit, drag racing at Westmoreland track

Glenroy Sinclair, Assignment Coordinator

Jamaica's Olympic gold medallist, sprinter Michael Frater, will be among scores of competitors at the newly constructed JamWest Speedway in Little London, Westmoreland, today. This is the second day of competition, after yesterday's qualifying.

"Frater
will be driving a turbocharged Honda Civic and he will be competing in
the drag race events," said Dean Corrodus, one of the organisers of the
event.

Today, the drivers will not only be battling
for supremacy on the track, but for a million dollars in prize money.
Action is set to begin at 9 a.m.

"Asafa Powell was
supposed to be here, but something is wrong with his car. I don't know
if he will still make it," Corrodus told Automotives
on Friday.

Located in the little farming community of
Old Hope, which lies between Savanna-la-Mar and Little London, the
1.8-mile long JamWest track officially opens its doors to circuit and
drag racing today.

"We will be having five circuit
races and some drag races. The circuit racers will competing in the
MP1-MP4 classes and Thudersport 1 and 2 Classes," said
Corrodus.

One of the crowd favourites, Doug
'Hollywood' Gore, will be back in action. "I will be driving a 1,800
Volkswagen GTI, which is owned by race driver Nigel Edwards of Brown's
Town, St Ann. I will be competing in the MP3 Class against drivers such
as Sebastien Rae and Charles Chen, and I am looking forward to it,"
commented Gore.

Rae, who is Dover's 2012 champion
driver, is fresh from the experience of Rally Jamaica 2012. He is
expected to take the fight to Gore.

The Rae-Gore clash
continues in the bigger class, when Sebastien's uncle, the veteran
Peter Rae, takes on Doug's younger brother, Matthew, in what is shaping
up to be a thriller.

Rae is Dover's Thundersport 2
champion and now has one of the fastest cars in circuit racing, while
Matthew Gore has been enjoying a series of successes. Recently, he
teamed up with Raymond Farquharson in Rally Jamaica 2012 to finish
second in the JA2 Class and fourth overall.

He was
also second overall in the Raynor King rally, which was run in June, and
first in class as well as the two-wheel drive category. The younger
Gore is currently second place on 490 points in the overall Rallysport
driver's championship, having won the title in
2010.

Other drivers down to participate are George
Bayley of Dover fame and top drag racer Damion
Allen.