The history of Motor racing in Guyana by Avery Gomes

A Legacy of Speed by Avery Gomes.

50 years of Motor Racing in Guyana. A Brief History of the Sport by Avery Gomes.

How all it began in 1950 on the #63 Beach on Easter Weekends

Researching and writing this has taken much time, as precious little was written down as things happened maybe those involved were all too busy having fun! Most of it is gathered from old newspaper clippings, sports magazines and race programs, as well as interviews with Eric Vieira, Joey King, Dennis Gashpar and Shorab Rahaman. They rambled and I made notes... and this is the story.

In the beginning...
According to Shorab Rahaman there were a few motor-cycles knocking around just after World War 11- mostly utility machines from the sugar estates that found their way into private hands, along with some military surplus. Requiring constant attention they kept mechanics busy, and with few paved roads around, they were tried out on the Durban Park Horse-race Track. In no time there were drag races being run on the front straight - these "mechanics" then were the first "racers", entertaining the girls who came to watch the old motor-cycles trundled by at a heart-stopping 50 mph.

By 1948, according to Dennis Gashpar of `Club 9' fame, motor-cycles groups [don't want to say gangs] had formed, but none were registered entities; that club consisted of Roland Patterson, Maurice King, Darby Clarke, Frank Van Sertima, Walter Spooner, Eion Davis, Walestine Scott, Neville King and others. They held Road-Safety events, formation-riding and picnics at the Sea-wall Bandstand, Hope and Triumph Beaches and they all had a great time. By 1950, another "group" had emerged, this one made up of the sons of the more well-off families in Georgetown - most of them, members of the elite Demerara Rowing Club. Young and adventurous, as man 30 would gather at Alvaro Goveia's house on Albert & Sixth Streets and would draw numbers for position in the convoy then take off Mahaicony and further up the East C Road, The riding-party was always he by the more experienced riders like Eric Vi with good ones like Max Jardim and Anrade at the rear to dash up and halt th if someone fell or broke down. Soon tl were going as far as the Corentyne, "U covering" the #63 Village Beach. The 100 mile ride up the pot-holed, red-dirt East Coast road was rough & dusty and, on arrival, the "63 Beach" provided a welcome opportunity for flat-out riding on the smooth 5-mile stretch of sand. Soon drag-races were being run, with the villagers coming out to watch the action on Sundays.

Racing on #63 Beach
By 1952, things were more organised, but trips to #63 Beach ["little Daytona", they called it] then only happened on Easter Week-ends every year. The beat was - leave town Easter Saturday, over-night at nearby Skeldon and Port Mourant Sugar Estates or the "King's Hotel" at the entrance to #63 Beach, then check the beach on Sunday morning for soft-spots and debris, and put down course-markers. By mid-morning thousands of villagers would have gathered to see the drag-races, with a few taking part too. Most interesting was the fact that the local Catholic Priest - Sunday morning mass done - was made the official starter! Obviously the racers were all included in his prayers for safe-keeping and God-speed!

The BGMCC is born
In 1955 the British Guiana Motor-Cycle Club [BGMCC] was formed; as the racing on the beach was on the wane - many of them were getting older and marrying, and a respectable image was needed to replace the young, wild one. The thinking was that the Clubs' formation would bring this and maybe that's why Hector Steele (then Chairman of Sambach Parker) was made President, with Mark Steel (son of Hector) Vice-President, and Eric Vieira - Secretary, Neil Savory - Treasurer and Hashim Hack - Club Captain. The membership consisted of Hillary Jardim, Mike
Brassington, Max Jardins, Roy Chabrol, Yusuf Ali, Joe Mendes, Des Anrade, Naz Sabja, Roddy Too-Chung, David Foo and others.
The newly formed BGMCC held its first official Race Meeting on the sands of #63 Beach on Easter Sunday in April 1955, and at that meeting race-winners actually received Silver trophies for their efforts. -Yes, Motor Racing had arrived!
Apart from the #63 Beach racing, the BGMCC held dances at GTA Hall in Georgetown and continued with the group -rides to Mahaicony and Dakara Creek. On
one of the "base - rides" the old, abandoned USAF Bomber Dispersal Area at Atkinson Field [called South Dakota] was discovered, and soon drags were being run on Sundays on what's now the "Backstraight'.

Racing at South Dakota
Eric Vieira became the BGMCC's 2nd President in 1956 and, with the encouragement of the growing number of enthusiastic followers, the Club put on its first, official race meeting at the South Dakota Circuit in May 1956. There was a lot of work to be done.

Roy Chabrol - this "legend in his own time " is seen here racing at the first BGMCC at the South Dakota Circuit in May of 1956. Roy died in a road accident in 1958

The word had spread in the Caribbean about the sport here in British Guiana and 1957 Clarence Hill of Barbados arrived with his Norton Dominator Twin - he didn't know it but he was the forerunner of many Barbadian "invasion" to come! A friend of Neil Savory and Hashim Hack he was here on holiday for the first meeting in 1956 and had promised to return.

Courtesy Car Club
Also in 1957 a group of motor-cars enthusiasts formed the Courtesy Car Club - holding their own events for members only. They included driving tests and speed tests running against the clock. Kit Nascimento was greatly involved in this club's formation and the running of events. They were also involved in the promotion of safe road use exercises and training sessions.
By 1958 Hashim Hack's Triumph motorcycle dealership was selling lots of bikes, and he left the BGMCC to become President of the Triumph Motor-cycle Club [TMC] he formed. The Club had a big following, even including Eric Viera [BGMCC President] as a member along with Dennis Gashpar, Dennis Da Cambra, Compton DeSouza, Albert Alstrom, Jerome Gomes, Victor Sabja, Joe Crevalle, Shorab Rahaman and most of the chaps of the BGMCC - an interesting scenario! Hack brought in lots of hop-up parts for the Triumphs and sold them to members. The TMC also held their own racemeetings, and raced at BGMCC meets too! Hack also imported the first Go-karts here and they raced at South Dakota events and on the grass at British Guiana Cricket Club [BGCC] ground. Strangely the TMC disappeared around 1961, with most of its members absorbed by the BGMCC.

	Eric Vieira at speed on a Triumph
Clarence Hill of Barbados on his Norton in 1957		Hashim Hack formed the TMC

The Motor Racing Scene from 1958-61 saw both motorcycles & Go-karts racing at meeting organised by the BGMCC and the Triumph Motorcycle Club.

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