By Iva Wharton
The Guyana Telephone and Telegraph Company was on Friday lauded by the Guyana Motor Racing and Sports Club (GMR&SC) for its support of motor racing ahead of this week-end’s final round of the Caribbean Motor racing Championships at the South Dakota Circuit.
Describing the company as being the backbone of the sport in Guyana Persaud said: “We consider them family. They are the backbone of motor racing in Guyana.
He added:”One of the things we could count on them for is financing as these big meets are very costly. It is a true Guyanese company and they support the local sporting industry to the max.”
GT&T and GMR&SC are in the final year of a three-year sponsorship agreement worth a reported$40m.
Persaud pointed out that GT&T and the Guyana Motor Racing and Sports Club have a long relationship, spanning some seven years, a relationship which has resulted in the two inking a multi-million dollar deal to resurface the circuit and also sponsor race meets.
“With the cost associated to host a meet of the magnitude of the Caribbean Motor Racing Championship, if we do not get the kind of substantial support that we’ve received from our sponsor it would be virtually impossible for us to manage such a huge undertaking,” he declared.
The venue was the GT&T Canteen and the occasion was a press conference before Sunday’s final round of the Caribbean team championships and individual championships.
In the team championships Jamaica will take some catching. They lead the standings with 113 points followed by Barbados on 64, the Cayman Islands on 26 and Guyana on 21 while the battle for individual honours should be a straight fight between defending champion Roger `The Beast’ Mayers and Jamaican top driver David Summerbell.
Meanwhile GT&T has announced an innovative way of purchasing tickets revealing on Friday that this can be done electronically.
According to Allison Dundas, the company’s BlackBerry Store Manager…”We will sell E-tickets to the public and you simply have to send a text via your GT&T number to 620-race,” Dundas said adding that any amount of tickets can be purchased by any one person.
“The text that you are sending to purchase the ticket for one adult and one child ticket you are texting 1 A and 1 C. One representing the amount with the A representing adult and C child. So you text that to 620-race and GT&T will send you a text confirming your receipt of purchase text and they then will deduct the cost of your ticket from your balance,” Dundas explained. Tickets, she said can be uplifted at any GT&T office but purchasers must walk with their phone as evidence that they would have purchased the ticket.
“Purchasing your ticket via text you are now eligible to get to the races via the fast lane, so when you get up there, there are miles of cars to get into the South Dakota Circuit, but because you have purchased your ticket via the GT&T SMS you have privilege, access now to the fast lane so you can get into the races very quickly,” she added.
Dundas said for every adult picket purchased, consumers will get $200 back in free credit. The cost of a ticket is $2000.
Apart from the Caribbean countries mentioned drivers from the USA and Canada are also expected to compete at Sunday’s `Caribbean Race of Champions’ meet.
