Gore seeks revenge against King as MRA EastRoc ‘Skate Revenge’ roars into Trelawny

A growing rivalry between motorsport drivers Doug Gore and Raynor King will take centre stage on Sunday, June 14, when the highly anticipated Skate Revenge event unfolds at the Trelawny Multi-Purpose Stadium.

The event, organised by the Montego Bay Racing Association (MRA), gets underway at 10:00 a.m. with gates opening at 6:00 a.m. and promises a thrilling day of speed and competition featuring some of Jamaica’s top rally, circuit, drift, and drag racing competitors.

The name “Skate Revenge” is no accident.

It was inspired by the dramatic outcome of the season’s opening sprint event in March when Raynor King edged out Doug Gore in one of the day’s most talked-about battles. With Gore eager to settle the score, the MRA believes fans are in for another memorable showdown.

“Doug was his number one rival, so that’s why we got the name Skate Revenge because they said Doug is coming back for revenge,” Brandon King explained.

While the rivalry between Gore and King provides a compelling storyline, the event will feature much more than a two-man battle. Drivers expected to compete include Brandon King, Raynor King, Jason King, Doug Gore, Sebastian Rae, Demar Lee, Ian Wright, Kevin Chok, Nicholas Barnes, Dane Graham, Christian Addison, Maurice Whittingham, Cleve Ottey, Zidan Madden, Akeelo Morgan, Raymar Scott, Felix Headley, Kai Chuck-Dion, and Jason Reid, along with a host of competitors from across Jamaica. Veteran racers Alan Chen, Chippy Addison, and Leslie Madden are also expected to be in contention; for Chen,  if final preparations on his car are completed in time.

For Jason King, this represents a triumphant return to motor-racing after losing his leg in a freak accident in late 2025. Now fitted with a prosthetic, he intends to be as competitive as ever.

King said the organisers are anticipating a larger field than the approximately 30 competitors who participated in the successful March staging.

“We’re hoping to have everybody out and have a very, very productive and exciting day when it comes down to racing,” he said.

Unlike traditional wheel-to-wheel racing, Skate Revenge uses a time-attack format that places the emphasis on precision, speed and consistency.

“It is a tarmac sprint event that will have drift cars, rally cars and circuit cars all going heads-up for the top spot and to determine who has the fastest time,” King said.

During competition, drivers tackle a specially designed course individually, with cars leaving the start line approximately one minute apart. Each competitor completes two laps, with the fastest times deciding the winners.

Rather than separating competitors by racing discipline, vehicles are grouped according to technical specifications such as engine size, turbochargers and other performance modifications. The format creates unique matchups that are rarely seen elsewhere in Jamaican motorsport.

“It is quite a very interesting match-up. You have different cars from different areas of racing actually racing in one class against each other,” King said.

Competitors must also meet strict safety requirements, including roll cages, fireproof racing suits, racing seats, helmets and six-point harnesses before being allowed onto the course as set by the JMMC, which governs motorsports in Jamaica.

The event is being staged with the support of title sponsor EastRoc Energy Drink, which will officially debut at the competition. Other sponsors include MSS, Montego Bay Mines, Rate Zone, ECS Printing Company, Thrifty Gas, KFC, Toyota Jamaica, Millennial Imprint Printing Company, Tru-Juice, CVM, Madd Vision Production, Burnhard Trucking, Clear D, Smoking, Point-2-Point Corporate Car Care, Stunner Media, Donovan Montague, Delta Supplies Co.Ltd, and Lynch Photography.

Admission is $2,000 for adults and $1,000 for children.

The event forms part of the Montego Bay Racing Association’s ambitious 2026 motorsport calendar, which organisers hope will help revive rally sport in Jamaica and lay the foundation for a return to international competition.

The June 14 staging is the second event on the calendar following the successful opening Skate sprint in March. The schedule continues on July 11-12 with the Brighton River Sprint and Off-Roading on the Farm in St Elizabeth, a two-day motorsport festival combining sprint racing, off-road competition and camping activities.

Organisers are also planning a navigation challenge inspired by the popular navigation rallies of years gone by, with participants required to follow designated routes and collect checkpoints along the way before arriving at the event venue.

Attention will then shift to the association’s first full tarmac rally in years, scheduled for September 20, with organisers currently assessing potential routes in Trelawny and St Elizabeth.

The season will continue with the Great Spot Valley Gravel Sprint on November 8 before culminating in a three-day rally event from December 11-13, which organisers hope will represent another major step toward restoring Jamaica’s standing as one of the Caribbean’s premier rally destinations.

The ambitious programme follows a recent visit to Barbados by members of the organising team, who studied rally operations and event management as part of efforts to elevate local motorsport to international standards.

“We want to take this thing back to the days of Rally Jamaica when we had proper international rallies and everything. That’s where we’re pushing to head back to,” King said.

For now, however, the focus will be on Trelawny this Sunday, where Gore will attempt to gain revenge on King and stake his claim as the island’s fastest man on tarmac while helping to usher in a new era for Jamaican motorsport.