Team MoBay's Gore revs into elite group

Western Bureau:Team MoBay Racing (TMR) topped the 2012 National Rallysport Driver's Championship recently when the dynamic team of Matthew Gore and Raymond Farquharson emerged atop the JA2 class to secure the 130 points needed to clinch the Jamaica Millennium Motoring Club top prize.

By virtue of his win, Gore, who also won the title in 2010, now joins the elite group of drivers who have won the title twice. Dean Corrodus (2006 and 2009), Gary Gregg (2004 and 2005) and Richard Rerrie (1996, 1999 and 2001) are the drivers who have accomplished that feat.

Jordan Powell, who was leading the championship all season and entered the final event at Wakefield Raceway in St Catherine with a 90-point lead over Gore, succumbed to car trouble while negotiating the infamous water splash on the second stage of the event. His misfortune opened the door to Gore, who was shadowing him.

RADIATOR MISHAP

In addition to Powell's setback, Gore's co-driver Raymond Farquharson suffered injury to his face in a radiator mishap on the final day.

"The car was overheating as the connection for the cooling fan had worked its way loose," said Gore. "Raymond was trying to fix it when the overflow bottle opened up, spraying his face with scalding coolant."

Despite his injuries, Farquharson decided to soldier on so as not to weaken Gore's chance of taking the title. He later sought medical attention.

With this year's Driver's Championship in his grasp, Gore is already thinking of next year when he hopes to join Rerrie as a three-time winner. This weekend, he is down to compete at the Jamwest Speedway in Westmoreland. He will be racing his Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X in the event, which has been dubbed 'To the Limit Circuit and Drag Racing'.