GMR&SC aims for South Dakota circuit to be Caribbean’s best facility

Oct 21, 2022 Sports

---

– November 12 – 13 Race of Champions set for new track

 By Rawle Toney

Motor racing enthusiasts in Guyana and those gracing these shores for the Ignite Race of Champions will be greeted by an extended South Dakota Circuit; one which the Guyana Motor Racing and Sports Club (GMR&SC) believes, completion, will be one of the best in the Caribbean.

The Caribbean’s top drivers and their high-speed machines will invade Guyana November 12 – 13, for the event that will culminate motor racing activities in the Region for 2022.

However, this year will be the start of the facility-enhancing campaign by the GMR&SC to make South Dakota the ‘Mecca’ of motor racing in the entire Caribbean.

“The new track will call for more skill,” said Mark Vieira, one of the most popular names in local motor racing, who also sits as a committee member of the GMR&SC.

Vieira, still a competitor and former Caribbean Champion, says the track, which now covers 1.6 miles, is “very technical… it’s going to be a more flowing track.”

“We estimate that it is going to take a Group Four car maybe one minute, 20 seconds (1:20). Before it was 34 seconds. So there’s going to be a lot more movement. So we’re looking at races taking maybe 12 minutes instead of six. So people will have a chance to warm the tires up properly before they start pushing their cars,” Vieira said.

He added that there will be more need for speed, while also pointing out, “We have a track with a lot more angulation which the track goes up and down at certain places. We have apex turns which means you turn in late, then you come more on the inside. So, I think it’s going to make a big difference in racing.”

“It’s 42 feet wide which will be one of the widest in the Caribbean; It has the longest straight in the Caribbean which is a half mile. Cars like mine in Group 4 should be up to around 160 miles per hour and the 600CC bikes should be the same thing,” Vieira said.

With the Bushy Park circuit in Barbados receiving Grade Three certification from the motor racing global-governing body, Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA), Vieira said GMR&SC will aim for Grade Two accreditation, at least, upon the first phase of completion of the new track.

This, he mentioned, will allow for Formula racing to be accommodated at South Dakota.

According to the FIA, there is 51 Grade Two circuits for a total of 58 layouts as of August 2022.

Circuits holding Grade Two certification may host events involving Automobiles of Groups D (FIA International Formula) and E (Free formula) with a weight/power ratio of between 1 and 2 kg/hp.

“We have everything basically; we have the space to do it. If you look at this track, we have tons of run-off. We went along with the guidelines that FIA gave to us to the ‘T’,” the famous driver said.

Meanwhile, Gavin Guyadin, another Committee Member and competitor, reasoned that the overall goal is to “Achieve total experience, the fan experience…we hope to achieve an all-inclusive facility, where you can come from the airport and come straight to the track and you have a room and a car ready for you to drive; that is our vision and our goal.”

GOVERNMENT SUPPORT LAUDED

While both Vieira and Guyadin did not highlight the cost of the expansion, they have praised the likes of Trinidad trucking company, Junior Sammy and the Government of Guyana, especially, for their input into making the project a reality.

Amongst the discipline listed by President Irfaan Ali, which he said will be targeted by his Administration in their push to make Guyana the sport tourism hub of the Caribbean, motor racing, particularly their November meeting, was highlighted.

“Without the Government of Guyana’s initiative and partnership with us; the whole One Guyana initiative and without the President’s input, this would not have been a reality,” Guyadin said.

He explained that “The most expensive ingredient (for the track) was provided and subsidised by the Government and without that, we wouldn’t have been here. So the vision is shared between the club, between the executives, the membership of the club and also, at a broader spectrum, the Government of Guyana.”

Over the past 50 years, the GMR&SC said they have transformed the automotive industry in Guyana through the strategic creation of high-level race meets and events which cut across various demographics: status, religion, gender and age, attracting more than 30,000 patrons in a single space for one day.

The highly anticipated annual November Race of Champions, is said to be the single-largest sporting event that is consistent, well managed, and attracts a steady following and equal investment, and is also the GMR&SC’s marquee event on their local motor-racing calendar.

 

 

 

---

---