Should We Be Worried ?

Last year (2008) I had the pleasure of being at Dover during practice for the first round of the Caribbean Motor Racing Championship. I did not know much then, about the cars raced by Team Barbados, but based on the information I was receiving they were said to be remarkable machines. Acting on this bit of information, I made the extra effort to arrive early inorder to ensure that I had ample time to form my own unimportant opinion about the level of competition they would bring to the table or in this case the track.

There are race cars and then there are RACE CARS! I still stutter to form the appropriate words that my brain’s inner workings sought, processed and delivered for me to say each time I attempt to speak about Mark Maloney’s Red Bull Mazda RX3. Whenever I think about this car there is a vivid image in my mind of the huge spoiler with the words – Watch Me Fly!

Mark Maloney’s car, to my mind, is nothing short of a work of art, the only difference being, that in this case, the artist is a race car builder /engineer who having completed his master piece, stuffed a hair raising, 12000 rpm shifting, 20B engine in it and released it on a track near us!. Standing on top of the garage area (the pits) and listening to the mechanized harmony of the motor at full song, being led with a sequential shifter and an unforgiving right foot has no comparison. I was impressed, I was truly impressed.

The car is here again and it will be racing on the 24th and the 25th of May ‘09 .Having undergone ‘surgery’, numerous changes have been made to the car and according to Mark it should be much better than it was during its last outing here. I am like a child who has received a bag of sweets! Remember now, that the last time the car was here, it did deliver on its potential and Mark won one of the races.

But wait, there is more! The defending champion of the series is also a member of team Barbados, Mark’s brother, Stuart Maloney who drives an even more powerful car than Mark, the Automotive Art Evo 6 and if that wasn’t enough Doug Maloney, Mark and Stuart’s father, has returned with an improved Audi Quattro Turbo. Truth be told, the Maloney’s are obviously not bringing a stick to a gunfight! They will be packing a whole lot of punches for this round. Is that a bell I hear?

Cecil Munroe Jr. Gleaner Online Writer

Are you really thinking that we shouldn’t be worried?

What is your view?

Tags: Dover, Jamaica, Motorsports, Racing