JRDC: Victory and damage for Doug Gore and ATL TT-R at Heroes of Speed in Jamaica

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.

All of the main Jamaican motorsport protagonists were present, including Doug Gore in the Audi facing off against David Summerbell’s Mitsubishi, an ex-Time Attack car, and Peter Rae’s Mazda. Much excitement and press surrounded the duo of Gore and Summerbell, as it was the first time in months that these two giants of Jamaican motorsport were on track together again. Both were aiming for victory and the Dover lap record.

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.

Summerbell suffered a turbo failure during qualifying, but the car was repaired in time for the first MP4 race, starting from pitlane. Doug Gore led at the front, whilst Summerbell had recovered up to fourth, before suffering another mechanical issue. Up front Doug Gore dominated the MP4 race and took his first victory of the day. Both Gore and Summerbell were not on the grid for the second MP4 race, which was won by Andre Anderson. They opted to focus on the Thundersport race, which was the finale at the end of the race day.

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:

This meeting concluded the 2013 Dover track action for the competitors. The next race meeting for ATL Automotive and their ABT-Audi TT-R has been mentioned to be at the third and final round of the Caribbean Motor Racing Championship (CMRC), which will be held in Guyana in November.

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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Photo credit: D_MONTii Motography N More (Donavan Montague) / Jamaican Tuner

Video: Audi domination in Jamaica with Doug Gore ABT-Audi TT-R

By Johan Laubscher 

The first round of the Caribbean Motor Racing Championship (CMRC) saw a dominant display by Doug Gore in the ATL Automotive ABT-Audi TT-R.

The CMRC season opener was held at Dover in Jamaica last weekend, and the two Audis in the field both performed very well. More about the event and results can be read HERE. The Jamaica Observer has put together a great video featuring the ATL Racing team at Dover, that video has been embedded below.

Photo credit: Screenshot from the video / Jamaica Observer

CMRC: Doug Gore dominates Dover with his ABT-Audi TT-R

By Johan Laubscher

The Caribbean Motor Racing Championship (CMRC) got underway at Dover in Jamaica last weekend. Two Audi race cars were entered in the event: The ATL Automotive ABT-Audi TT-R driven by Doug Gore and the extensively modified Audi A4 STW driven by Doug Maloney.

Dover is Jamaica’s premiere race circuit and Doug Gore has been unbeaten so far this year, within all the Jamaican events. Gore competes for the Team Jamaica squad within the CMRC competitors, listed by their Caribbean country of origin. It is the second season that the ABT-Audi TT-R has been allowed in the CMRC. The car arrived in the Caribbean during 2011 but was disallowed to compete in the CMRC, due to being underweight. 

The ATL Audi was finally allowed to compete during 2012, but misfortune struck the team at this very round last year, the CMRC season opener of 2012. Doug Gore was involved in a first-corner crash during the very first race of the season. The resulting damage ended the ATL Automotive team’s season, as the car needed to be returned to ABT Sportsline in Germany for serious repairs. The ATL ABT-Audi TT-R was eventually repaired and returned to Jamaica at the beginning of 2013, and has since been unbeaten all year.

The second Audi is that of Doug Maloney, an ex-Super Touring Audi A4 STW. His car arrived in Barbados during 2007 and has been modified by the Maloney Racing Team. He has competed in the Barbadian BARL series and the CMRC since the car’s arrival in 2007. Maloney competes for Team Barbados within the CMRC.

The 2013 season opener at Dover was set to be another clash between all the big names in Jamaica: Gore (Audi) vs Summerbell (Mitsubishi) vs Rae (Mazda), all competing within Group 4 of the CMRC. The weekend got off to a good start as Doug Gore dominated the proceedings by taking pole position, whilst Maloney qualified his A4 in eighth.

Doug Gore continued his dominant form as he went on to make it three from three on the day, taking all three CMRC race victories. Admittedly Gore’s biggest opposition, David Summerbell in the Mitsubishi, unfortunately retired from race one with gearbox issues, which put him out for the rest of the day. Doug Maloney also performed very well with his Audi A4 STW, as he finished on the podium in all three races. Maloney finished third in races one and three, and he finished second behind Gore for an Audi 1-2 in race two.

It was a great day for the ATL Automotive team, who remain unbeaten in Jamaica this year.  

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Photo credit: D_MONTii Motography N More (Donavan Montague) / Jamaican Tuner

Doug Gore and ATL Audi dominate at Dover

By Johan Laubscher

The annual Carnival of Speed took place at Dover in Jamaica this weekend. The event marks the first big circuit racing event in Jamaica each year. It was also the long anticipated return of Doug Gore and the ATL Automotive ABT-Audi TT-R at the Dover circuit. 

Gore suffered a hefty crash at Dover last May, which required an intensive rebuild of the car in Germany, subsequently costing Gore and the team their entire remaining 2012 season. The team and the car are back and they were victorious at Jamwest Raceway a few weeks ago. Thus they were in high spirits as they arrived at Dover.

Some of the teams competed at Jamwest Raceway a few weeks ago, where Doug Gore dominated the proceedings, more can be read about that event HERE. However the only big guns at Jamwest were Gore and Peter Rae (Mazda). The big talking point remained this meeting at Dover when the “King”, David Summerbell, would also be in attendance. Summerbell competes with a Time-Attack based Mitsubishi Evo which has proven to be the car to beat for many seasons, a very potent machine.  

Gore and ATL arrived at Dover determined to repeat the success of Jamwest. The Audi had been entered in two sets of races: Modified Production Class 4 (two races - five and seven laps) and Thundersport 2 (one twelve lap race). He was immediately fast during practice and set pole position ahead of Summerbell.

Race day dawned on Easter Monday and the scene was set for another clash of Gore versus Summerbell. The first MP4 race got underway with Summberbell getting the jump off the rolling start and taking the outside line into turn one. Gore was able to use the inside line to maintain the lead and a battle ensued between the two. Summerbell kept Gore in sight but the Audi maintained a constant pace and crossed the line to take victory.

The second MP4 race was a copybook start of the first race. Summerbell again had the jump off the flag but Gore defended the inside line. Gore once again lead Summerbell around the Dover track until Summerbell dropped back with a loss in performance and a trail of ominous smoke. This left Doug Gore out in front for what turned into an easy victory.

Following the two MP4 races the final race of the day was the twelve lap Thundersport race. David Summerbell did not make it out on track for the day's final race which left Doug Gore alone out in front as he claimed another victory on the day. 

However, as the day came to a close in Jamaica the news emerged that Doug Gore was disqualified from the second MP4 race of the day. The disqualification was due to a technicality surrounding his use of tires.

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Photo credit: D_MONTii Motography N More / Jamaican Tuner

Victorious return for the Doug Gore ABT-Audi TT-R in Jamaica

By Johan Laubscher

This weekend marked the return of Doug “Hollywood” Gore in and the ATL Automotive ABT-Audi TT-R in Jamaica. The ex-ABT Sportsline DTM race car arrived in Jamaica during 2011 and competed successfully until an accident at Dover last May. The accident caused a lot of damage to the car’s chassis. The damage put the car out for the rest of the 2012 season as it went back to Germany for repairs. It was uncertain if the car would return to Jamaica, but luckily at the beginning of 2013 it was confirmed that the car would return. It had undergone a thorough ABT rebuild and received new bodywork from the SVC team in the Czech Republic, more can be read HERE and HERE. 

The car was re-launched at an ATL press conference last week, shortly after clearing customs upon its arrival back in Jamaica. The new look and livery were revealed at the press conference, more can be read HERE. Following the launch, the ATL Racing team was hard at work as the first race meeting was only a few days away. Jamwest, a new racing facility in Jamaica, played host to the first motorsport event of the year. Jamaica now has two race tracks, Dover and Jamwest. Shortly after the launch Doug Gore made it clear that the ATL team aims to rule both circuits by reclaiming the lap record at Dover and beating the existing record when they debut at Jamwest. 

The team was out testing at Jamwest before the race weekend, the day after the launch. No official times were shared, but the Audi was reported as being very fast on the new track. The existing lap record was held by Mr Zoom Zoom, Peter Rae, in his Mazda at 1 minute and 10 seconds.

Admittedly, there was a small entry list at Jamwest, but the headliner was that Doug Gore would face off against Peter Rae in his Mazda, one of the top competitors in Jamaica. David Summerbell and his Mitsubishi Evo, the current Dover lap record holder, did not attend this event.

The big news began in qualifying when Doug Gore took pole position by setting a new lap record at 1:08.396. Peter Rae had been experiencing problems during the morning and would start from the back of the grid. The first race began with Gore leading the field off the line, but Rae was the big mover by moving from seventh to second on the first lap. Rae then continued to set a tremendous pace and began reeling in Gore, setting a fastest lap of 1:08.450. This lap time stunned everyone at the track. Gore may still have held the overall record, which he set in qualifying, but Rae had put in a stormer during the race and was knocking on the door of reclaiming it. Doug Gore maintained the lead, despite Rae’s pace, and won the first MP class race of the day. Gore did win the race, but in contrast his fastest lap was 1:09.256, nearly a second slower than Rae, which became the talking point at the circuit.

For race two Gore and Rae were both on the front row, and the scene was set for the race of the day. The two drivers ran in close proximity during the opening laps with Doug maintaining the lead. Both drivers improved their best laptimes during the second race. Rae dropped to a 1:07.723 whereas Gore pulled out a flyer by setting the new lap record at 1:06.946. The pace was clearly very fast at the front but Gore maintained the lead and took his second race win on the day. It was later reported that Rae had developed a puncture during the closing stages of the race.

The day’s proceedings came to a close with a staggered race, where the fastest cars started at the back with time delays based on pace. Only four cars competed the race with Rae suffering a retirement and Doug ultimately finishing third, but he was lapping almost ten seconds a lap faster than the cars in front of him.

It was a successful return for Doug Gore and the ATL Automotive ABT-Audi TT-R. Two race wins and the new lap record meant it was a case of mission accomplished, but the real test will come at the next event. The Jamaican motorsport brigade will next compete at Dover, the annual Carnival of Speed. All the top contenders, including Gore, Summerbell and Rae, will be there, all aiming for the top spot and the lap record. 

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Photo credit: D_MONTii Motography N More / Jamaican Tuner