New Providence Island, 24.11.2012 – 02.12.20
The original Bahamas Speed Week was the brainchild of an
American, Sherman “Red” Crise, who had organised speed events
in his homeland, and thought that the wide open space at the old
Windsor Airport on New Providence Island would be a great venue
for a race circuit. He sold his idea to the Bahamian authorities as
a way of increasing foreign visitors who would attend the
meetings, thus in December 1954 the first Speed Week took
place. It was held at the Windsor Field circuit until 1956, then
moved to the larger Oakes Field site in 1957, where it continued
to be held until its demise after the 1966 event.
The gathering attracted top teams and drivers through most of its
years of activity, it being particularly popular with European
drivers, as it was a season end fling, with hard racing mixed with
beautiful weather and copious social events. The drivers who
participated read like a motor racing Who’s Who of the period,
with race winners over the years including the likes of Alfonso de
Portago, Masten Gregory, Carroll Shelby, Phil Hill, Pedro and
Ricardo Rodriguez, AJ Foyt, Bruce McLaren, Roger Penske,
Mark Donohue, Innes Ireland, Dan Gurney and (Sir) Stirling Moss,
to name but a few.
In recent years, a group of enthusiasts headed by Jimmy Lowe,
David McLaughlin and Brendan Foulkes, have worked tirelessly
with the Bahamian Government and its different departments to
bring the Revival Meeting to fruition, succeeding with the first
running in 2011. For the second running the event was expanded
to include a group of young kart drivers from the UK and the USA.
The purpose of their visit was not only to demonstrate their skills
on track, but to interact with their Bahamian peers through visits
to local schools, to promote interest in motor sport in the
community, and to help with their box car projects, which were
initiated by the organisers. The kart element was very fitting, as
the first Karting World Championship was held in Nassau in 1959.
The preliminary gatherings kicked off on Saturday 24 November
with a classic and modern car show for local enthusiasts,
including trade stands, adjacent to the paddock area and the
Arawak Cay Heritage Centre, giving them the chance to show
their vehicles to the public and visitors from abroad. This was
followed on the Sunday by kart racing on a circuit set up in the
parking area of the Queen Elizabeth Sports Centre, an impressive
new structure built on the old Oakes Field site, adjacent to which
is a monument to the memory of Sir Sidney Oakes, who was one
of the founding members of the original Bahamas Speed Week. In
the evening there was jazz al fresco at a reception at Jacaranda
House in the centre of Nassau, a colonial building dating back to
1840, which has been in the ownership of the Oakes family for the
past 60 years. In keeping with the strong socialising aspect of the
original Speed Weeks, the next two days were free for visitors to
explore what the Bahamas have to offer, with chartered plane trips
available to visit the much larger Island of Abaco to the north of
New Providence Island.
The official opening ceremony was held during the morning of
Wednesday 28 November, with the Governor General, Sir Arthur
Foulkes and Lady Foulkes along with Sir Stirling Moss and Lady
Moss as honoured guests, along with a number of dignitaries from
the government departments involved with the organisation of the
Revival Meeting. The participating cars were lined up Le Mans
style along the street fronting the fish restaurants at Arawak Cay
as a backdrop to proceedings, with the Royal Bahamian Police
Force Band providing a musical interlude to the opening
ceremony, before the signal “gentleman start your engines” was
given, for the entrants to do a few laps of part of the circuit,
headed by Sir Stirling and Lady Susie Moss in a 1956 OSCA
sports racing car. Lunch was taken in an open tent on the green
opposite the restaurants, where a traditional Bahamian band
provided a colourful display of costumes as they made their way
through the party, being joined by the “Miss Bahamas Speed
Week” girls and Miss Universe Bahamas, to add a dash of beauty
to the occasion. In the evening there was reception at
Government House in the centre of Nassau, by kind invitation of
the Governor General and his wife. As an aside, this was the
residence of the Duke and Duchess of Windsor, following his
abdication as King Edward VIII in 1936.
The Thursday provided entrants with the opportunity to tour the
island, with police outriders clearing the way and making for an
easy high speed passage. Lunch was taken at the exclusive
Lyford Cay Club on the west coast, where the original “007” Sean
Connery joined participants, and there was a Concours
d’Elegance This was won by the Jaguar C-Type of Jonathan
Turner from the UK. Class awards went to the Ferrari 500 TRC of
David and Kate Cottingham, the Ferrari 330 America of Tony
Best, the Dodge Viper of August and Jessica Schnabel, and the
Bocar XP-5 of Mike and Dawn Fisher. In the evening there was a
reception in the gardens of the exclusive Graycliff Hotel in central
Nassau, which boasts the world’s third best wine cellar, a cigar
“factory”, a chocolate “factory” and the first 5 star restaurant in the
Caribbean.
Friday was a day of relaxation, with a lunchtime beach party, and
in the evening a Bay Street Roadshow, where the locals could get
up close to the participating cars, and the entrants could enjoy an
exclusive al fresco reception. On Saturday it was the Fort
Charlotte hillclimb, which started from Arawak Cay, using part of
the street circuit, before turning right and climbing through a
series of twists and turns to the fort at the summit, sited at one of
the highest points on the island. In the Race Car 1954 – 1966
Class, the Ferrari 500 TRC of David Cottingham (UK) was
quickest with a time of 42secs, in the Classic Cars Class the
quickest time, 46secs, was set by the Daimler SP 250 of Steve
Plaster (USA), and in the Supercar Class it was the Dodge Viper
of Ed Hugo (USA) with a time of 40secs. There were also
passenger rides available through the day, and Derek Bell was
very generous with his time in giving a number of people trips up
the hill in a Ferrari 550 Barchetta. The day ended with a gala
dinner and charity auction at the Sheraton Beach Resort Hotel at
Cable Bay.
The finale on Sunday was the action on the street circuit, which
had been extended in length from last year to cross the bridges to
the container port to the rear of Arawak Cay. Unfortunately a
tanker lorry hit one of the temporary bridges erected for
pedestrians early on the Sunday morning, so the start of
proceedings was delayed by an hour or so. However, this provided
me with the opportunity to pay a quick visit to Ardastra Gardens
and Zoo, a 10 minute walk up the hill from Arawak Cay, which is
a botanical gardens, conservation centre and zoo, spanning 5.5
acres. It is home to the largest collection of Bahamian land
animals in the world, and also has species from Africa, North &
South America, Australia and Asia, including Meerkats,
Australian Black Swans and a Jaguar, so there is a car
connection! When proceedings on the track started, there were
competitive timed runs, demonstration runs by the kart drivers,
and passenger rides throughout the day. In the Race Car group
the quickest time was posted by Simon Arscott (USA) in his
Aston Martin DB5, in 1min 35.25secs, with Pablo de Sousa
taking the Classic Class win in a time of 1min 43.12secs in his
Excalibur JAC 427, and once again Ed Hugo taking victory in the
Supercar division in his Dodge Viper, with a time of 1min
29.1secs. The gathering came to a close as the sun went down in
the Paddock Club with the prize giving ceremony, where the
awards were presented by Sir Stirling Moss.
Keith Bluemel
12/2012
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