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A guide to the different types of motor sport found across the Caribbean…
It’s a drag Drag racing has been popular in the region since the 1970s; in some countries (Grenada, St Lucia, for instance) it thrives as a cost-effective alternative to circuit racing – a quarter-mile drag strip soaks up less land and money than a racetrack – while in Trinidad, which boasts the world’s fastest dragster (Sheldon Bissessar’s Partytime Rail at 5.777secs/241.87mph), the closure of its race circuit has driven competitors back to the drag strip. A new Drag Racing and Drifting Club formed recently in Barbados hopes to revive a discipline which used to pull thousands of spectators to a temporarily closed section of the island’s main highway. Add to your kart? Legendary names in world motor sport such as Michael Schumacher, Ayrton Senna started their competition careers racing karts (formerly known as go-karts) and it remains a good entry point – some racers are as young as six! Barbados was one of the first territories to introduce karts, in the 1950s, and its association is involved in moves with other clubs across the region to expand international competition. The Guyana Motor Racing & Sports Club has recently completed construction of a purpose-built kart track in the centre of capital Georgetown, which will not only help foster growth in this discipline, but of the sport in general. On safari Rally cars are occupied by two people, and the co-driver (‘navigator’ in old terminology) plays a vital role. Co-drivers learn their trade in navigational events, where accurate reading of maps and instructions is the key ingredient, rather than speed. In Europe, these tend to be road rallies, run at an average far below the speed limit, but in some parts of the Caribbean they have evolved into off-road events using four-wheel-drive vehicles – the ‘Mud Dogs’ in Barbados, for instance, have five such Safaris each year, plus three MudFests, where driving skills are tested to the max over some pretty creative man-made obstacles. Radio waves Small is beautiful, some say, and there are those who enjoy their motor sport on a much smaller scale. As the Regional Radio Control Championships, hosted by ROAR (Radio Operation Auto racers) in Barbados for the first time last December proved, this side of motor sport is growing too; teams from Guadeloupe and Martinique – it is particularly popular in the French-speaking islands – joined those from Jamaica and the host country for two days of intense competition, while others from Trinidad and even the US are expected in 2009. There are on-road and off-road disciplines, with international events planned for both. Arrive & drive While most forms of motor sport require mandatory safety modifications to the competing vehicle, such is not necessarily the case with the Dexterity Test. As the name suggests, this evaluates your ability to handle a car, usually in a confined space, and against the clock. The car in question is often your daily runner, checked purely for road-legal stuff like working brakes and seat belt, and that there’s nothing loose inside car or trunk to start bouncing around. Like the similar Autocross, it is popular throughout the region. Car park venues vary from sports stadiums to supermarkets. |
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