One big family
CMRC, Jamaica Race Drivers Club join to stage major meet at JamWest
JAMAICA WILL be well represented at JamWest Motorsports and Adventure Park, Negril, on the weekend of May 12-13 after organisers of the Caribbean Motor Racing Championship (CMRC) and Jamaica Race Drivers Club (JRDC) met on the grid to iron out differences, thereby avoiding both entities staging competing meets next month.
Andel Griffiths, vice-president, sales and marketing, JamWest, yesterday told The Gleaner that fears of minimal participation of Jamaican drivers in the CMRC had been put to rest following a “mutual agreement” for one big meet at JamWest.
“We just had to get the rules of the event ironed out. CMRC has different regulations, which are different from JRDC. Some cars that run under JRC regulations would have to change their setup. We had to meet to make sure the schedule is friendly to drivers competing in both events,” Griffiths explained.
“Some of the JRDC cars, without any change, can compete in CMRC, for example, drivers like Kyle Gregg, David Summerbell, Peter Rae, the KFC Honda Civic, and McConnell’s Tru-Juice car.
“We are still working out the scheduling. We are trying to go for qualifying on Saturday and full racing on Sunday, some JRDC, others CMRC,” Griffiths added.
SHOW OF FORCE
Peter Rae, who will be participating in JRDC and CMRC events, said he was happy that Jamaica that would be a show of force at home.
“I run CMRC Group Four. To run JRDC Thundersports, I will have to remove weight from the car. The one group that might have a little issue is Group Two CMRC, which has narrower tyres and heavier weight. The equivalent of that would be JRDC MP 2, which runs wider tyres and lighter bodies, cars such as the KFC and Tru-Juice car,” Rae explained.
“I am glad that the two entities have joined hands for the betterment of the sport. We’re hosting a big regional event and almost had only a handful of local drivers. I am hoping that this year, Jamaica can be leading in country points at the end of the day, not a repeat of last year when Trinidad led.
“We’re looking forward to the support of local drivers. You need to pit your skills against the drivers from down the islands, particularly youngsters coming up from karting,” the veteran driver emphasised.