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David Summerbell and AMS TA1 Sweep the second race of The Caribbean Motor Racing Championship. 3 Races, 3 Wins and a new track record

This Memorial Day weekend was the second race of the Caribbean Motor Racing Championship (CMRC) at Dover Raceway in Jamaica. David Summerbell and AMS TA1 had a very successful weekend breaking the track record in qualifying in addition to breaking the during race lap record three times. Here is a quick run-down of the weekend’s events:

Qualifying:
In qualifying on Sunday David and AMS TA1 set a new track lap record of 1.18.47. This beating the existing record which was also held by David and TA1 by nearly half a second.

Race 1:
Monday in the first race David started on pole and ran away with the win, finishing well ahead of Stuart Maloney in a Evo 6 (white and pink) who is currently the biggest competition and the reigning CMRC champion. David also set a new during race track lap record with a 1.19.7 lap time.

Race 2:
In the second race David reset the track during race lap record with a 1.19.3 and again took the overall win.

Race 3:
A couple hours later in race 3 David made it a clean sweep and took the overall win yet again as well as resetting the during race track record with a time of 1.19.0.

We sold AMS TA1 to David in May of 2008. Since then he has made 9 First Place finishes and broken and re-broken lap records at multiple tracks. Since we sold the car to David the only change made was a new Shepherd Racing transfer case. The AMS TA1 EVO 8 is now on its 4th straight season on the original AMS 2.3 Stroker Motor. This weekend marks 29 total Victories for TA1 since its debut in 2006.

Congratulations to David Summerbell and crew for an outstanding performance! We could not have found a better Team to carry on the winning legacy of the AMS TA1 EVO 8.

For more info on this race: http://www.wheelsjamaicahost.com/whe…pic=111667.550
For some good pics of the race: http://www.wheelsjamaicahost.com/whe…114174.new#new
For more info on AMS TA1: http://www.amsperformance.com/ams_timeattackevo.php

It’s race season again in Jamaica and the owner and driver of AMS TA1 is back at it again winning races.

The race took place at Dover raceway, just south of Discovery bay in Jamaica. Sunday David qualified on pole for the JRDC Carnival of Speed “thundersport” class of the event and then qualified 2nd for the MP3 class that he also competed in. He was able to win the first of three races but due to some transmission issues had to sit out the 2nd and third.

I wish our Time attack races could get a crowd like this….WOW!!!

Congrats Mr. Summerbell!!! We can;t wait to see the next race.

For more info on the race please visit:

http://www.wheelsjamaicahost.com/whe…pic=105399.300

http://www.gmrscgy.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=6693

Last weekend I flew down to Guyana, South America to assist David Summerbell (better known in Jamaican racing circles as King David)at the final race of the Caribbean Motor Racing Championship. We ended up with 2nd place in the championship but were able to break the track record at the South Dakota Raceway in Guyana. This particular weekend we placed third, second and then first consecutively. Here are the details of the weekend.

Qualifying

After much practice on Friday and a frantic transmission change that night after forth gear lost some teeth and destroyed the gearbox, David drove TA1 to a very quick time of 35.4 to claim pole position. Second, two tenths back was local favorite Andrew King (who held the track record of 35.07 set early in 2008 in his tube framed RX7) and a little further back in third is Stuart Maloney in his seriously quick EVO 6 with a time of 35.8 he set with a misfiring engine.

Race 1

Race 1 was a debacle from the start. TA1 was ready to go to the grid when the skies opened up with rain. David’s team quickly went to work to prepare the car for a wet race by putting on a set of rain wheels and disconnecting the sway bars. He positioned himself on pole to begin the race but was held there for ten minutes due to the weather. The race was stopped and the cars were sent back to the pits.

Once the race was started the track was wet but drying and TA1 went out on Advan slicks with the suspension set back for a dry track which proved too aggressive for the conditions. TA1 was lose in the corners and couldn’t put the power down. It didn’t help that he got a puncture and was fighting a slowly deflating tire to the end of the race where he finished third.

Race 2

With the weather and track conditions slowly returning to what TA1 qualified in things were looking good to challenge the previous race winner Stuart Maloney in his EVO 6. On went a new set of hard compound tires and a few more suspension tweaks. David started in the third spot on the grid but was in second position by the first corner. TA1 had the power to hang with the leading car but couldn’t get off the corner fast enough to capture the lead and finished second to Maloney.

In David’s efforts to challenge the leading car David set the fastest time of the race meet and broke the track record with a 34.98 second lap!!!

Race 3

Now starting second to Stuart Maloney’s EVO They came to the line in a rolling start to begin race three. David immediately pulled ahead of Maloney and just beat him to the first corner. The two EVOs fought hard for the next four laps with David pulling away. It was then that Maloney’s car slowed in a shower of sparks as his ex-WRC titanium Driveshaft let go and slapped against the ground. David cruised to victory with Doug Gore in second place ten seconds back.

I didn’t get any pics of the final race that David won. But heres a good video on You tube of it! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BLWrrBseiQk

It’s been a real eye opener to race in the Caribbean, with some 15,000 people at the track on race day the passion and excitement for motorsports is intoxicating. This was the last race of the season for David and TA1 and what a season it was. It’s been very satisfying to see the car continue to set track records abroad and for AMS to continue to be part of its success.

Pics from the weekend.

Sunrise at forty thousand feet over the Caribbean.

Big thanks to Patrick and the guys from Team Mo Bay for all the help.

“Forth gear is over rated”

Ex-DTM converted to all wheel drive

RX 3 with a 20B and six speed sequential reving to near 13,000 RPM

Serious hardware

Wheel to wheel exceitment

AMS uncloaked – Mario James

Bobby Marshall posing between the gutted doors of the AMS Evo.

IT IS probably the most capable track Evo ever constructed. Built by American Motor Sports (AMS), the car was built for a new racing genre known as Time Attack (TA), a racing series which has its origins in Japan. The competition pits car and driver against time and track. In this series, the racing is done in three lap stints; a warm up, timed and cool-down laps. Just driver, his right foot, machine and God.

AMS Racing, with a two year learning curve, built this beast of a car. Unleashed in 2006, this 2004 EVO III was the product of countless hours of wrench time, testing and experience. Right out of the box it was a winner. It won outright pretty much every Time Attack trophy there is in the US, and against much more heavily financed opposition.

multiple awards

It has won the following events:

2006 Car & Driver One Lap of America third place overall.

2006 Redline Time Attack – Summit Point first place AWD unlimited.

2007 Modified Magazine Tuner Shootout – first place overall.

2007 Redline Time Attack – VIR Grand Champion & first place AWD unlimited.

2007 Redline Time Attack – Summit Point first place AWD unlimited.

2007 Redline Time Attack – St Louis Gateway Grand Champion and first place AWD unlimited.

2007 Redline Time Attack – Autodrome St-Eustache Grand Champion and first place AWD unlimited.

2007 Redline Time Attack California Speedway first place AWD unlimited.

So, what’ll she do? “The car, as currently geared, will do upwards of 170 mph,” according to Stephen Gunther, Summerbell’s crew chief. “At Dover, we had boost set at 24 1/2 lb ; the AMS guys when they run at 25lb dyno at 520 whp, so we were making slightly less. We ran the car with an 8,000 rpm redline.” The engine, according to the spec sheet posted by AMS, has a company designed stroker kit that bumps up displacement from 1997 to 2,270cc. It runs Jun 272 cams and has 1200 cc injectors nestled in a special AMS built manifold. Spent gasses are exhausted through a Tri-Y format high riser bunch of snakes which dump into three inch collectors and a shorty exhaust tube which directs hydrocarbons track-ward round amidships. The H-pattern gearbox is by Shepherd and has five forward cogs and reverse, with a swappable fifth gear. In Time Attack mode – spooled up with 30 lb boost – the 4G63 makes over 600 whp, and has been timed at 10.5 sec in the quarter. All up weight without driver is 2730lb power to weight at TA spec is more than 500 hp / ton!

total package

In the quest for speed, AMS did not ignore the total package. And here the experience of that shop comes to the fore. As David intimated in a television interview, his main rival (Gore) is already close on power. But the tuneability of this package – and the team’s talent for determining the proper setup for most any track – gives the Summerbell team an almost unfair advantage. Front brakes are six pot Stop-Tec callipers clamping on 13″ discs. The combination is so large and so powerful that only 18″ rims will clear. The back wheels house the standard Evo Brembo setup. Dampers are adjustable in both rebound and compression. In addition to a very precise rebound adjustment mechanism, this special shock absorber has a remote reservoir with compression and gas volume adjustment. The suspension stampings are works of art, and actually lower the car without compromising suspension travel.

little touches

But it is the little touches that really set this car apart; the attention to detail that sets apart the winners from the also-rans. The intake down tube, for example, is not just held together by common hose clamps, but is actually wired together by steel strips bolted to each bit of pipe (when your engine is huffing on 30 lb boost, forces inside the intake tube can exceed tonnes). The rather spindly rear wing is not bolted to the trunk lid, but actually is attatched to the rear chassis leg under the trunk lid. It is very strong in compression, belying its size. The guy wires lend a lot of support. The front fenders, doors and bonnet are made from carbon fibre; the back door is made from steel, but the door bulkhead has been cut away for lightness. And the execution of these little touches is flawless.

With this package and Summerbell’s talent, victory in the Caribbean Circuit Championship should be a forgone conclusion!

Clamped and wired.

Rear suspension and sway bars setup.