Circuit Racing: TA-1 will be ready for October!

When I spoke to TSR crew chief, Stephen Gunter recently, I was directed to have dialogue with the ‘King’ – David Summerbell Jr. re- some of the questions I had. Kings are never normally humble and sociable, but, David Summerbell Jr is the definition of both. Eyebrows have been raised ever since Heath slammed into TA-1 during the final race of the Independence of Speed, held August 4 and concerns have been expressed in motorsports quarters about the damage that TA-1 sustained as a result of the impact.

According to David, the evaluation is still not complete, but despite the “hard hit” that TA-1 got, he conveyed that it will be ready when duty comes calling. He reminded me of previous incidents in TA-1′s colorful past, for example, his forest excursion at corner 1, which saw TA-1 embracing the vegetation! He added, that in each case, the machine was repaired and ready for the next event, so, whatever the evaluation reveals, TA-1 will be repaired.

TA-1, waiting patiently, before attacking the 1.6 at Dover on August 4.

I asked David if he spoke to Heath after the videos of the incident were released and he said “No”. He did say, however, that he responded to comments, allegedly made by Heath on a website. According to David, he was surprised that Heath continued to maintain such an arrogant stance even after seeing the videos and the pictures relating to the incident.  I will contact Heath to hear his perspective.

When asked – How would you describe your season thus far? David responded – “It has been a tough one. We have won a couple of races, but we definitely have had several issues. It has been a challenging year”. I also asked David if he plans to acquire a new race car. David replied – “All things are being considered”.

Time will tell if this is the final chapter of the TA-1 Story, but for now, the TSR flag will be flown by TA-1. TA-1 will be ready for October!

Cecil Munroe Gleaner On-Line Writer