Last year was touted as a successful year for motor racing by President of the Guyana Motor Racing & Sports Club (GMR&SC) Raj Boodhoo but his focus now is improving the momentum of development in 2017.
GMR&SC President Raj Boodhoo
Boodhoo explained that “2016 has been a very successful year, we would have made new strides and leaps for the development of the sport and we are looking forward to improving the pace in 2017.”
The highlight for the previous year was seen by the President as the successful hosting of the Caribbean Motor Racing Championships (CMRC) final leg in November at the South Dakota Circuit considering the much needed improvements made to the facilities and access roads.
More so, Boodhoo felt that Team Mohammed’s Enterprise recruiting the likes of Moto America 2016 champion Bryce Prince and top British rider Matt Truelove along with local boy group four driver Kristian Jeffrey and Jamaican Doug Gore in his Audi sparked a greater interest in the sport in Guyana.
In addition, he also expressed pleasure about the refurbishment of the Cosmos Go-Kart facility which is seen as the breeding ground for new talents.
In assessing aspects where the club can develop, the President felt there is need for stronger ties with major sponsors and making the sport safer.
“There is more to do with financing so that is why we will be seeking more support from major sponsors and most importantly we are looking forward to making it (motor racing) safer by concentrating on safety for both competitors and the fans,” he explained.
He further stated, “We are trying to get fans closer to the competition so we need to have strong ties with the media to help in spreading the message of road safety among other things.
As it regards the further improvement of the South Dakota track, Boodhoo stated that the major focus is to get international accreditation.
The major expansion is a must to bring it up to international standard so we can have more foreign competitors” and have insurance for our competitors , I don’t know how possible it will be for in 2017 but we will be concentrating on a new pit lane and also developing a new drag race track,” Boodhoo revealed.
In 2016, the drag racing phenomenon certainly carried the heat by fans and there seems to be a possibility that a Caribbean champions could be on the cards once all systems go according to plan.
“The return of Suriname to Guyana was great; it was almost dubbed and international meet so we are talking to Trinidad, St. Vincent, Antigua, Jamaica and they are all willing to come here and when we set our calendar of activities we will be inviting them, so 2017 might see a Caribbean drag racing championship,” Boodhoo revealed.
In terms of the CMRC country title, Guyana lost their crown to Trinidad and Tobago after finishing third but the GMR&SC President said that regaining the title is of significant importance when the season gets underway in April-May.
“We are focusing strongly on getting back the country championships, we have spoken to some our competitors that will be touring and the club will trying to assist in whatever way we can to help more competitor’s tour, the President underscored.
Meanwhile, the Motor racing club is seeking to have an event per month whether it drag racing, circuit racing for Go-kart as way of keeping the public interested in the sport.
