The Tribune

EDITOR, The Tribune.

As a die hard racing fan who has followed motor sports since childhood, and one of the extremely few black people who follows this sport, I feel that I must comment on a certain upcoming sporting event that has been making the news lately.

If you have been reading the dailies, then you're probably aware that "Speed Weeks" is returning; and both the Ministry of Tourism and the Ministry of Sports are making preparations for this prestigious event: Media promotions, installation of bleachers for spectators, and the cleaning and "fixing up" of the Arawak Cay area. The powers that be in charge of everything promises that this year's Speed Weeks will truly be an exciting and action packed "festival of speed and exotic cars", far better than last year's event.

Alas, if the people in charge of Speed Weeks had more in-depth knowledge of the sport of auto racing, they wouldn't have bothered bringing back a relic from this country's past. Personally, as a "true true" racing fan, I feel that this "revived" Speed Weeks is an insult, not only to the original Speed Weeks of the 1950's and 1960's, but also to auto racing as a whole. First of all, in the glory days of yesteryear, there was a place where international race car drivers and their ultra fast, ultra exotic race cars could both compete and put on a great show for their spectators: the first airport originally located in Oakes Field. An airport provides an excellent temporary course for professional road racing, thanks to its extremely long and wide runways and taxiways, where cars could race side by side at high speed for extended periods of time; in fact, the now defunct CART (Championship Auto Racing Teams) Indy Car series raced at an airport; and its successor, the Izod Indy Car series, races on an airport's runways to this day.

At one time, in the early 90's, the island of New Providence had two airports: the Nassau International Airport (now LPIA), and another airport located on Paradise Island, which operated Paradise Island Airlines, owned by the late billionaire businessman Merv Griffin. When this airline eventually went under, the runways and taxiways left behind would have made the perfect temporary road course, but unfortunately, the government of the time was most certainly not thinking about anything even remotely related to auto racing, and the property was eventually sold to "you-know-who". My reason for calling the new Speed Weeks an "insult" is the obvious fact that this tiny fly speck island simply does not have the space to house a proper road racing event, and Arawak Cay just won't do. You can have an exhibition parade that shows off the cars, certainly, but a parade is not a race; it's cars following one behind the other (boring), and in the immortal words of retired race commentator Chris Economaki: "Passing is racing."

This is why people watch racing, to see passing, drivers battling each other for the lead. You can't have this kind of action in such a small space as Arawak Cay. There is a reason why most auto racing events take place in the Americas (North, Central and South); Europe; Asia; Australia; Africa; and the Middle East: these places are all extremely large and have sufficient space for good quality racing. You need space for the track and the spectators, as well as parking and on-track medical facilities, not to mention a "pit road", where drivers can get their cars serviced by their respective teams. Again, Arawak Cay simply won't do.

I did mention earlier that I am one of the extremely few black people who watches auto racing, and yes, I have been the recipient of scorn and ridicule because of my choice of favourite sport. Bahamians – black Bahamians, I should say – like most black people, couldn't care less about this sport.

Only two sports matter in this country: basketball and football, in that order. The original Speed Weeks was popular back in the UBP days, when this country was still under British colonial rule. While just about every other sport on this planet has become racially integrated, auto racing remains the one sport black people have shown almost no interest in. Bringing a "white people" sport to a predominately black country is a foolish gamble at best. I didn't attend last year's event, but from what I've heard, it was a failure; practically nobody showed up – local or tourist – and vendors were complaining bitterly about lack of business. I was downtown, however, when the cars were leaving the country, and because of the large trailers required to transport these cars, which caused a minor traffic blockage on Bay Street, some Bahamians were eager to see them leave. The Bahamas can be a venue for motor sports, just not road racing. We once hosted drag racing. Why not bring this back? This form of racing is actually quite popular with blacks, because it involves "hot rodding" – turning a "project car" into a racing machine, something anyone can do without having to be mega rich. Also, we are an island nation, surrounded by miles of open water. Why not host power boat racing? The "track" is already there. And yes, we did host off shore powerboats here in the past. This should be our Speed Weeks. The Ministry of Sports needs to forget about this sports car fashion show and do some research, instead of insulting true motor sports fans who want to see real racing, instead of a parade.

BLUE AND KHAKI

Nassau,

September 15, 2012.