2b. Is it possible with that draw instead of stretch it centres the image?
It is: add a trackbar and dximagelist component to your form and c/p the following code. Set trackbar position to say 100 and add an image to the imagelist.
Code:
procedure TForm1.DXTimer1Timer(Sender: TObject; LagCount: Integer);
begin
    dxdraw1.Surface.Fill(0);
    dximagelist1.Items.Items[0].StretchDraw(dxdraw1.Surface, rect(100-trackbar1.Position,100-trackbar1.Position,200+trackbar1.Position,200+trackbar1.Position), 0);
    dxdraw1.Flip;
end;
3b: done. Getting 1000ms almost right at startup. Compiled it too, but with the same result.
I doubt it'll be different on your pc but here's the rarfile.