Caribbean motoring racing fans will have to wait until November for the results of Round 2 of the Seaboard Marine Caribbean Motor Racoing Championship (CMRC).
That’s because the organising committee has decided by majority vote that the results of the race staged at Bushy Park last Sunday will not be made official and the race will be rerun in Guyana at the CMRC final in November.
The feature event of the Williams Digicel International Race Meet organised by the Barbados Auto Racing League was a major talking point after the race which was run in fading light, ended in confusion and sent the organising committee into two days of meetings before a decision was reached.
Racing secretary Kurt Seabra said: “Proper race procedure was not – and could not – be followed.
Our races are controlled by flag signals and, in this instance, drivers by their own admission, could not possibly see whether any such flags were waved.
“This led to the confusion of drivers slowing, because they could not see, or because they thought the race was over. Some cars were bumped, forcing them to retire from the race, and neither officials nor drivers can correctly say by whom.”
The solution endorsed by Barbados and Guyana is that the race will be rerun prior to the qualifying session for the final round of the CMRC at the South Dakota racetrack in Guyana on Saturday, November 12.
The grid positions will be as they were for the final race in Barbados, and competitors will be allowed two additional slick tyres over the eight already allocated for each CMRC round.
“After speaking to Mahendra Boodhoo, the Guyana CMRC representative and chairman of the Barbados leg, as well as all the drivers of Team Barbados and Team Guyana, there is a consensus that it would make a bad situation worse if we make the results of this race official. Unfortunately, Team Jamaica is not in favour of our decision,” Seabra stated.
The Seaboard Marine CMRC is jointly administered by the Barbados Auto Racing League (BARL), the Guyana Motor Racing & Sports Club (GMR&SC) and the Jamaica Race Drivers’ Club (JRDC).
The clubs nominate a CMRC representative for each leg, with the chairmanship of the committee rotating: in Barbados, the committee comprised Mahendra Boodhoo, Guyana, chairman, Hilary Jardine, Jamaica and Kurt Seabra of Barbados.
Here, Guyana’s Mark VierIa in the RedJet/Digicel/Shell V-Power Mazda RX8, ran off the course and ended up atop the tyre wall going up the “pit hill” during the second race of the Seaboard Marine Caribbean Marine Motor Racing Championship at Bushy Park last Sunday. The race of the group has been rescheduled for Guyana in November.
