Restrictions on food and drink were a small price to pay for the opportunity of having world-class Formula 1 driver Lewis Hamilton and millions of dollars in car machinery in Barbados for one weekend.
Ralph “Bizzy” Williams, one of the investors in the new and enhanced Bushy Park circuit, has defended the decision by the Top Gear Festival organisers to prohibit fans from taking food and drink into the Bushy Park facility at the two-day event last weekend.
“Don’t forget, it costs money to bring all these cars here. It didn’t cost peanuts to put on this event. The idea in Barbados sometimes is that everything should be free but it can’t be free if you want a world-class event. You have to pay for excellence.
“If we had allowed people to bring in rice and chicken, all of the people who are in the business of selling food would be quarrelling. You can’t please everyone. You have to make decisions that are sometimes unpopular with one group, and popular with the other,” he stressed.
Williams said that overall the meet was a huge success and he gave full credit to chairman of Bushy Park Circuit Inc., Mark Maloney, for leading the way in the development plan for the sprawling new facility at Bushy Park with its world-class track and impressive pits.
