By Iva Wharton
Motor racers in Guyana will be counting on home court advantage to keep the Caribbean Motor Racing Championship title here.
The final leg of the prestigious championship is slated for next month at the South Dakota Circuit.
“Usually most of the countries excel on their home ground so we are hoping to take home the title,’ said Vishok Persaud, past president of the Guyana Motor Racing and Sports Club (GMR&SC). According to Persaud, two years ago the GMR&SC made a significant effort with the vehicles and received the most points as a team.
Persaud was speaking at the launching of the championship on the final night of Guyexpo at the Sophia exhibition site.
The launching of the championship is not a coincidence, said Persaud, adding that the GMRSC has been partnering with the Tourism Ministry to have the event promoted as a tourism attraction.
GMR&SC Vice President David Fernandes said of there was a lot of preparatory work in progress at the circuit which he said has been a continuous process. “The local competitors have been working very hard to get all their machines up and running. All machines that were recently in Barbados have returned so we have adequate time for them to be prepared,” said Fernandes.
He added that a number of foreign competitors have indicated an interest in competing at the championship.
“We have several racers from Barbados and Jamaica and we definitely have the guys from Trinidad as well and I am sure the guys from the US (United States) and Canada are going to be here.”
According to Fernandes, some of the local competitors especially the juniors have shown signs of improvements which he said was good for sport.
Tourism Minister Irfaan Ali said the role of government is to facilitate and ensure that there is an enabling environment through which the private sector and other entities can thrive.
“We are very happy to say that the dynamic leadership of this sporting association has led to tremendous growth in terms of the tourism sector,” Ali said.
The minister added that the ministry was working to incorporate sporting events to create packages to attract people to Guyana.
Representing Seaboard Marine was Peter Peroune who said that the company was pleased to be associated with the championships.
This, he said, was the fourth year that they are partnering with the GMRSC in providing transportation to have the Caribbean competitors here.
“We just wish the GMRSC all the best for this upcoming event and hopes it is a success as usual because we know the hard work that goes into it,” said Peroune.
The three-leg Caribbean championship drives of in Jamaica, moves to Barbados and ends in Guyana.
