1966 brought independence form Great Britain and a name-change for the BGMRA, becoming the Guyana Motor Racing Club (GMRC) with PM. Forbes Burnham as the Club's Patron. The grandstand in gooseneck was built that year compliments of Banks DIH and from'66 to 69 it was an all Caribbean scene, with regular visits by Trinidad's Esso-sponsored Team Tiger and the Barbados Rally Club's Team, and their supporters!
Trinidad's Team Tiger soon consisted mostly of cars with drivers like Jack Robinson (whose Elan 26R is still raced today by Jason Chen), Ralph Thom (Lotus 7, Elan, MGB), Silbourne Clarke (VW Beetle), Tom Miller (Mini) and Francis Ottley (F. Vee). From Barbados Bobby then Michael Gill (Minis) came often.
On the local motorcycling front Frank Van Sertima, David Reid, Errol and Elson TenPow, Victor Pires, Terrence Clarke, John Thij s and Frankie Vieira (when Johnny Temll hung up his helmet) were in the limelight. And on four wheels names like Eric Vieira (switched from bikes) Bobby Go-Cool, Philllip de Freitas, Ansari Rahaman, John Albricht, Kit Nascimento, Joey King, Bill Blair and ladyrecers Zulaika Rahaman and Jan Correia were the toast of the town! ...But not for long, as things took a new direction in March 1969 with the arrival of the Antigua Autosport Club team, consisting of Jack Trippe (an American based at the Pan American Missile Tracking station in Antigua and the Club's Secretary) with a Lotus Super 7, and Mike Tyrell and Tom Wolfe in interesting U2s. They dominated the meeting and stirred much interest with their "home-made" cars. Also the fact that Eric Vieira had driven a Lotus Super 7 the year before with great success, started locals thinking and soon the Jardim special (a V8 powered U2 called "the Beast") was under construction.
BOAC Team Speedbird arrive
By then the GMRC had begun to look further a field for competitors. The idea of UK racers competing at the South Dakota was exciting, but the cost of them travelling here was too high for the Club or individuals
to bear. A sponsor was needed, and Eric (still on crutches after a high-flying crash in Phillip de Freitas Viva at the May '69 meeting) turned to old friend Mark Steele, then BOAC Marketing Officer for the Eastern Caribbean, for ideas.
Between them a Sponsorship/PR deal was struck for the November 1969 meeting, and part of the package was that BOAC transport two UK drivers and their cars down for the meeting. That's how Mike Crabtree (Anglia TC) andArniePoole (MGB) arrived under the BOAC Team Speedbird banner, with Trust House Forte Pegasus providing accommodation for the meeting.
The UK drivers were a hit and invited to come again soon. However, the Club soon found out that for any more involvement of UK drivers, the track was going to have to be brought up to international standards as UK drivers only raced on RAC-approved tracks - so said Dean Delamont (RAC Track Inspector). He recommended spectator fences that moved the crowd from the edge of the track, proper radio-communication around the track and the resurfacing of the old concrete runways with its cracks and expansion joints with asphalt. More importantly, the start/finish line had to be moved to the front straight near the Clubhouse, and so were the pits. Delamont said it was too dangerous to have it at the end of the long back straight.
 Legends Elson Ten-Pow(61) Sydney Stafford(24) and Johnny Terrill(34) |
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South Dakota rebuilt
It was a daunting task but Eric and his merry men attacked it with relish. To start with a Special Fund Raising Committee, headed by the Motor Racing enthusiast Sir Shridath Ramphaling Eric, Kit Nascimento and Alec Phillips, lobbied local businesses for donations, raising some $200,000 (a grand sum in those days) to buy the bitumen from Shell Antilles Guianas Ltd. They got enough to cover two miles of roadway (at a greatly reduced price) and with the Ministry of Works providing equipment and a Road Engineer to design the curves; the job was done by October 16th 1970.
To mark the achievement the GMRC unveiled a plaque, at the launching ceremony, inscribed with the names of the companies that helped. Dean Delamont returned and pronounced the facilities OK - issuing the Club with an RAC International Track License, affiliation to the RAC and the provision of Accident Insurance for competitors and spectators alike. Motor Racing in Guyana was ready to roll on to the international scene!
The November 1970 meeting was the best ever attracting some 15,000 spectators, it saw Team Speedbird return with Crabtree (Wilment Escort T .C.) and Alec Poole (younger brother to Arnie and winner of the British Saloon Car Championship of 1963 in the Arden Mini) in the Ex-Roger Enever lightweight MG Midget. From Antigua came Jack Trippe (Lotus7) and Mike Tyrell (alexis FF). The Barbados Rally Club sent Andrew Phillips and Charles Colley (Vauxhall Ventora SS), Basil and Harry Watkins (Lotus Cortina), Pat Gonsalves (Escort GT), Tony O'Dowd (Cooper 998), Val Knowles (Cooper 998), Richard Cummings Morris 1300 GT) and John Springer (Escort TC).
Trinidad's Team Tiger consisted of Ralph Thom (Lotus 7T.C.) who raced at every meeting here between 1970 and 1974, Silbourne Clarke and Francis Ottley (E Vees), Herbert Miller (Cortina Savage) and Tim Meyer (Mini Cooper 1.05).
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The motorcar racer of the late '60s - how can you name? |
The Halcyon years
That meeting in November 1970 even got a whole page write up in the prestigious motosport magazine AUTOSPORT by Peter Burn who accompanied the UK team. It also set the format and dates for regular visits by Team Speedbird - coming either in early March (before the start of the UK season) or November (at seasons close) every year until 1980. For many, the period 1970-1975were the Halcyon years of the sport with Poole and Spice being regulars, bringing a host of interesting cars to these shores. Alec's cars included the much vaunted Complan Mini (sans turbo), the ex-Roy Pierpoint Rover V8 (March 1973), the exRoger Calvert Royale sport racer (November 1973) and finally the ex-Nick Whiting/ Derek Mc Mahon Escort 1840BDA. Gordon first came in 1971 with another MG Migdet, an Austin A40 in 1972, a host of Longman tuned Minis, then a Ginetta G12 and finally
a
Landar Sports racer. Most of the Speedbird cars were sold in the Caribbean after meetings, with many still racing years afterwards. I must add that spice was beaten by Kit Nacimento and both Terry and Cyril Angoy of Guyana, an indication of how hard the Guyanese were trying!
In March 1972 "The Loop", a deviation on the back straight was used for the first (and only) time to break the "monotony" of the three long straights that made up the large circuit. In November '72 Team
Speedbird consisted of Gordon Spice (A40) Dave Brodie (chevron 138) and Gabriel Konig (Z28 Camaro). Antigua's Jim Fuller set a short circuit record of 35.4 seconds in his Brabham BT38 with 1600 FVA power at that meeting - it stands to this day!
In November 1973 Spice and Crabtree returned along with, one of the UK's best motorcycle racers at the time, Ken Redfern, who proceeded to give riding lessons to Frank Van Sertima, David Reid and Victor Pires on his 350cc Yamaha. Sadly Redfern was killed in a road accident soon after returning home from that meeting in Guyana.
Around 1973 the oil crisis hit the world and even though motorsport slowed in the UK, Team Speedbird kept coming, bringing some of the UK's best to Guyana and the Caribbean. Richard Longman (mini-tuner extraordinaire) raced against Gordon Spice (mini-racer supreme) in March 1975 (Longman won!), and also to visit were Jenny Birrell, Barry Foley (Auto Sport Cartoonist), Bob Howlings (of Cheshire Sports Cars Fame), Barry "Whizzo" Williams, U2 Clubman racer Bob Lamplough, power boat racer Steve Castagne and the larger than life Derek Mc Mahon.
The Caribbean produced its stars too; Brian Ibrahim of Trinidad in his replica of Gerry Marshal's DTV Vauxhall Firenza, single seat racers Mike Tyrrell and Jim Fuller of Antigua and Andrew Cheeks of Trinidad. Terrapin drivers Lennox "Becks" Gonsalves of St. Vincent, Bizzy Williams and Mike Atwell of Barbados and Duke Soares of Burmuda in his Alexis. Roy Taylor, Eric Vieira and even David Reid defended Guyana's honour in their Jardin built Terrapins, along with U2's of Tom Wilson and Rod Grimes Graem. During those years many local teams were formed by Garages, auto dealerships and businesses: Guyana Gajraj (BMC and Kawasaki dealers), Gimpex (Fiat dealers), Marics (Honda and Chrysler dealers), Auto Supplies (Toyota and Suzuki dealers) and Central Garage (Vauxhall dealers) were wellrepresented. Teams were sponsored by Banks DIH (Beer and Soft drink manufacturers), Red Spot (Soft drinks), Ricks and Sari (food products) and Neil Chan (team Solo). There was much interest and excitement among fans about the locally constructed racing cars of George Jardin and Brothers namely "The Beast" followed by Terrapins. American Sprint car driver Bill Charron, living in Guyana at the time, introduced a road racing Sprintcar powered by small 4-cylinder engines. He called them "Guysprints" and claimed that they could be built for just $1000 in those days, with a special class created for them in 1973.
The Terrapins became so popular that a Caribbean Championship Series was drawnup around them, running from ' 73-' 75. The racing was good enough to get coverage in CCC Magazine that sent a reporter down to report on the efforts of UK Terrapin drivers like Dave Gould, who were invited to test the locals (the `locals' won!).
Back in Guyana in November, 1974, Menryn Dornford, [who lived and raced in Puerto Rico], brought over a team to race here. It included top SCCA driver Diego Febles in his Porsche 911 Carrera and a few other big names - that was the only visit. A large motor-cycle team visited in 1975 from the USA, on their TZ 750cc 2-stroke racers, only Pires on his Team Solo OWO 1- 750cc Yamaha racer could stay with them - it was a sight to see them wrestle those unwieldy 750s machines, especially on the short circuit!
Apart from the big meetings, the GMRC organised Rallies, Dexterity Tests, grass track racing - even one for motor-cycles run through the night [scary!] along with the usual social events and presentation parties.
saw most of those involved in the sport leave within a few years and the sport slowed dramatically. Guyana's new ties with Castro's Cuba saw that Islands' top riders of the day race here in the mid 1980s and a Guyanese team raced in Cuba. After that the sport just went to sleep - it was never banned [like almost everything else] but few were willing to promote a spot that smacked of capitalist largest like motor racing; apart from that money was no longer available.
Roger Mendonca inherited the 125cc crown from Nga-kien, being the Canadian Champion for many years, then it was on to the 250cc Class like the others and more championship years when the others had moved off the scene. (he was Champ in `84)
Victor Pires also made a name for himself; finishing 7`n in the Canadian GP on a 350cc Yamaha and with a broken leg! That was the year Steve Baker beat Kenny Roberts and everyone was riding 750s!
Back home Stanley Ming pulled off a Sponsorship Coup [dangerous word in those days]; getting the state-run Guyana Airways Corporation to finance his efforts in Daytona in the early `80s - wonder what he said to them to convince them to back him? He did well too.
RACING RE-STARTED
Forbes Burnham died in 1985, making way for the more liberal Desmond Hoyte, and by the end of that very year Motor Racing stirred from its slumber. Grass-track racing at the many Sugar Estate Community Centre grounds intensified and many claim today that it played a pivotal role in reviving the sport, with most of those involved today re-starting with grass-track after the long layoff. A whole new generation was infected
with the "Speed Bug" and there was great enthusiasm and interest shown again, with names like Kevin Jeffrey, Carl Holder, Wayne Viera, Mike and Chris Correia, Jad and Ray Rahaman, Andrew King and the evergreen Terrence "Ducklin" Clarke becoming the major players.
Soon Teams from the islands were visiting again, and by 1990 the Caribbean Championship Series was back-this time for modified production cars, and run every other year up to 1998.
On the motor-cycling front Kevin Jeffrey made the trip to Daytona [then on to race at other tracks in the USA and Canada] with the help of Colin McCamley, a Scotsman attached to the Guyana Airways Corporation as a technical adviser, who died tragically in a practice session the day before the November 1992 Meeting. That meeting was to see massive participation by an American team of motor-cyclists that he had been instrumental in getting down here but they withdrew in respect. They did return for other meets and are a major drawing card whenever they come.
So that's a brief look back over the last 50 years of Motor Racing in Guyana, just the facts, as the details and behind the scenes events could fill volumes and probably get me sued as well! If anyone has more info and photos of the Durban Park and 63 Beach days of the sport, please call me on 222-6511 [after-hours and weekends] as I plan more historic articles to come. If I'm not there leave a name and number and I'll get back to you. My email is: averygomes@yahoo.com
Avery Gomes.