QUALIFIERS for this year's circuit-racing title begin on Sunday, and the usual contenders will vie for supremacy.

David Summerbell Jr will will lead a three-man assault for racing dominance. The other drivers are Kyle Gregg and Andre Anderson and they make up the new Total Summerbell Racing team.

Summerbell's Lancer Evolution 8 has been fitted with upgrades to do battle with current track record holder Douglas Gore.

"The track has been the best it has ever been and TA1 (his car) is fast, scary fast," he said.

Gore said he is up for the challenge.

"We've changed the gearing and I'm now doing about 138-mph down the front straight into corner one," Gore said. "The wider rear tyres are to help with traction since Dover doesn't fully allow the aero (dynamics) to work."

Monday's Carnival of Speed is the first of the four race meets planned by Jamaica Race Drivers' Club (JRDC) the for the year. The others being in May, July and October.

In addition, Hilary Jardine, immediate JRDC past president, said he has high hopes for the staging of a Kingston Grand Prix as part of the Jamaica 50th anniversary celebrations.

At the launch of the 2012 circuit-racing season at the Sports Development Foundation on Phoenix Avenue, St Andrew recently, the group also stressed the upgrades to the track. They also lauded Adam Stewart, deputy chairman of the ATL Group, for a $1-million donation to fencing of the track area.

"The traffic issues of last year are now gone. The parking area has been expanded as well as exit roads so getting in and out Dover will be even quicker and easier," said Hilary Jardine, JRDC immediate past president.