The Tribune

By RICARDO WELLS

Tribune Staff Reporter

rwells@tribunemedia.net

THE quest to reignite motor racing in The Bahamas is moving closer to becoming a reality as Bahamas Speed Week Revival organisers look to building a $10m world-class race arena in western New Providence.

According to David McLaughlin, the Bahamas Speed Week Revival (BSWR) chairman, the Bahamas Motor Sports Park if constructed would act as a multi-faceted complex and home to nearly all forms of motor sports. It would also boost the economy and add to the growing sports tourism industry portfolio.

As proposed, the sports park would consist of an international standard kart track and an FIA grade three race circuit capable of holding the Speed Week Revival and similar events.

Mr McLaughlin, a 65-year-old from Britain, is in Nassau for further discussions with the government, who, he said, had agreed to give 200 acres to the project. He has an investor lined up and is hopeful of progress “in the coming weeks”.

He stressed that the new motor sports park, which he projected would be completed in three phases, would encompass more than just racing, adding that he sees the sport as a true Bahamian brand in the making.

“We want to add to that sports tourism brand that The Bahamas has been working to build in recent years. Minister Wilchcombe (Minister of Tourism) has pushed this ‘one mega event per month’ concept and we want to highlight a month,” he said.

“The Bahamas has the Battle for Atlantis, there is the Popeye’s Bowl now, an LPGA tournament – we want to add a Bahamian race week built around a major race. That’s what we want to do, and this new arena will be huge for that.”

Mr McLaughlin said the circuit would come at no cost to the government. “It can be a benefit to road safety, emergency medical service training and can serve so many different purposes,” he said.

Between 1954 and 1966, the Nassau Speed Week brought scores of world-class drivers to The Bahamas to compete for the title of best in the world.

In 2011, Mr McLauglin took a central role in the relaunch of the iconic Bahamas Speed Week. As chairman and event director, he has guided the revival as it grew from strength to strength, re-establishing itself as a centrepiece of the Nassau event calendar.

He recalled the days of his youth in which he “craved the opportunity” to visit The Bahamas and competed during the world-renowned Nassau Speed Week.

“Drivers absolutely lived for that series, lived to be (in The Bahamas) and win those races. It was the biggest deal in racing at that time, with prize money second to only the Indy 500,” he noted.

“That feeling still exists, both locally and internationally. Bahamians have an appetite for racing and drivers want to be here. We have seen that played out each of the last three years we have hosted our now annual event – Bahamas Speed Week.”

He claimed the market and energy needed to sustain a motor sports product already exists in the Bahamas, insisting that any direct development complementary to his team’s proposal would immediately “usher in the dawn of a new racing generation” across the country.

Mr McLaughlin, who in addition to his post with the BSWR also serves as a director in the Federation Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA), the regulatory body of global motor sports, noted that some countries have benefited from their association with motor sports, adding that The Bahamas could be next on that list.

In 2012, he pointed out that the inaugural US Grand Prix formula one race at the Circuit of the Americas (COTA) in Austin, Texas, attracted 117,429 racing fans. Area hotels earned more than $30m over the three days of the event. Alcohol sales alone boosted the city’s sales by 23 per cent, earning around $28m from the race weekend.

When the partnership between FIA and The Bahamas was announced in 2014, Minister of Youth, Sports and Culture Dr Daniel Johnson set an early target date for the project. “Once we have the international body, appropriate sponsorship, a local agreement, then the government will make a commitment to build a motorsports track in The Bahamas and we hope to be finished by next year,” he said. “We want to have an event the next year, because 2016 will be our breakout year for sports tourism.”

Mr McLaughlin is also promoting the EduKarting initiative as managing director for Karting Bahamas. EduKarting was introduced as a summer camp into government schools in 2013 and four of the schools with automotive programmes have continued as an after-school Kart Club recently at Doris Johnson. As well as driving, students learn road safety, mechanics, design, money management, marketing and fundraising for their teams.