Colin Hamilton/Freelance Photographer
Formula One test driver Sebastien Buemí showing who's the man at the Red Bull Urban Run and Auto Fair on Trafalgar Road, New Kingston, last week Sunday.
Mario James, Gleaner Writer
May 4, 2008 will go down in history as one of the most momentous occasions in the annals of Jamaican motorsport.
Finally, after two months of groundwork, the actual assembly of the RB2, one media launch, numerous photo ops and, at least, one shakedown run test driver Sebastien Bueim', the RB2 Formula 1 car and Trafalgar Road were to come together in what was to be one of the most spectacular automotive road shows in recent memory.
Assembled by a motley crew of highly specialised mechanics, one decorated engineer and crew chiefed by RBR's Julian Mills, talk of the car's presence at Stewart's Motors was bandied about for weeks before it actually arrived. Shipped in numerous boxes from its last show in Singapore, when I first saw it, the car was cloaked in a tarp. A rolling chassis, it all came together hours before the media launch in a blur of coordinated chaos.
As the day wore on, the car took shape as the carbon-fibre body panels were added; word got round, and more and more of the Jamaican motor-racing fraternity showed up to see the goings-on and added to eclectic mix of personnel around the car.
Peter 'The Brand' Rae said, "... This is the closest that most of us will ever get to an F1 car ..." and to cement the moment, he got the paparazzi to take a picture of him kneeling down, his arms around the RB2 in a display of reverence.
A funny thing happened, however. As time went on, the camaraderie between the pit crew and the onlookers grew and grew, till we were all united by our common interest and indeed, we became privy to some of the most hallowed secrets in F1.
It was a special moment - folks fondling the wheel assembly, hands on the computerised steering wheel, that kind of thing. The only thing we were not allowed to do was sit in the car - and there were two reasons for that; the seat was not yet installed, and most of us were too fat to fit!
Testing road worthiness
The shakedown run the following morning on Portmore's Dyke Road was supposed to be just that; a test of the car's road worthiness at speed.
In another twist of fate, however, it became an open secret that involved at least three media houses, one helicopter and a five o'clock tee-off time. Come five o'clock and three seconds, Buemí had the car through six gears and nearing 15,000 rpm before he pulled the plug. Radar guns indicated 300km/h (unverified). Incredible!
Day of reckoning
The momentum had started to build. The buzz created at the Palisadoes go-kart track, in the streets of Port Royal and at the Bob Marley Museum spread awareness of the coming event like no media blitz ever could.
Finally, the day of reckoning arrived . The night before was overcast, which raised concerns in the Red Bull camp. But the morning dawned bright and beautiful, a sign that the gods of combustion needed to be sated.
Scheduled for a 10:00 a.m. start, an estimated 30,000 people lined the sidewalks of Trafalgar Road, hungry for horsepower. In another first, and as a tribute to the event's organisers, the spectacle started on time!
As a preamble to the main event, new car dealers and race stars alike combined to put on a show the likes of which will probably never be seen on public roads again. From RC cars to drift kings, the entire spectrum that is competitive motor sport was represented in celebration of speed and skill that had to be seen to be believed. Dealer-supplied factory hot rods, like Doug Gore's Evo Ten and Richie Rerrie's specially prepared rally ready WRX whipped the crowd into a frenzy. Stewart Motors proudly displayed its $16-million race car for the street, the '08 BMW M3.
Piloted by Duncan, donuts were the order of the day, the extreme horsepower of all three cars shredding tyres and converting rubber into copious clouds of thick smoke.
The drifters
Then, there were the drifters. Marcus Barnes, in a consummate display of skill and finesse, produced a set that further added to the crescendo, his mount reacting to lightning steering inputs, the donuts getting ever smaller while being goaded on by the crowd and a seemingly foolhardy aide in the centre of his circles! Extreme control, great stuff.
Suddenly, the din was interrupted by bursts of noise from mechanic Pete Hennessey's hand-held starter as the car of the hour was primed and made ready for its show appearance.
A glance over his shoulder at engineer David Lamb, his laptop giving the all-clear signal was the sign for 19-year-old Sebastien to install himself in his office. The car was lowered off the jack stands on to the ground and the 'enter' key on said computer pressed while Hennessey (yeah, like the drink) turned over the engine with his 24-volt industrial scale egg beater.
Seven hundred and thirty horsepower roared to life under the command of the teenager's right foot, as the 650-kg ground-bound missile trundled out of the NCB Atrium parking lot on to Trafalgar Road. The screaming voices of 30,000 souls were lost in the 120db banshee wail of the three-litre Red Bull V10, which could be heard from as far away as Chancery Hall, St Andrew!
Buemí wasted no time showing off his mount's insane ability to inhale great stretches of pavement in scan seconds! If you missed it, you missed history!
