BARL has signed an exclusive agreement with the Bob Bondurant School of High Performance Driving to conduct a 3 day course annually for racing drivers to earn their SCCA racing license which will permit them to go internationally and race in North America. This is the first time in history that an accredited SCCA course will be conducted in any region other than North America. Barbados will become the first and only venue outside of North America where drivers can earn their SCCA racing license. The agreement states that Barbados will be the center for the region; the region being the countries from Cayman in the north, to Guyana and Suriname in the south. This is a lead up to our International meet on July 13, which will attract competitors from the region and various locations in North America. We will be putting out information on the event in weeks to come. BARL has extended invitations to TTASA of Trinidad & Tobago, as well as the JRDC of Jamaica, to send drivers to take part in the SCCA driving course. We are in communication with both Trinidad and Jamaica and will be issuing the formal invitation to those 2 countries to compete in our July International. BARL is also planning to have a bigger International event in November, which is expected to attract even more countries. The Honorable Minister of Sports & Culture has been invited and is expected to open both the racing course which kicks off on June 13, as well as our July 13 International event. BARL will soon officially announce a new US/Caribbean series where drivers from the Caribbean will get the opportunity to represent the region in the North American leg of the series. One of the prerequisites for those wishing to compete in the North American leg of the series is having an SCCA racing license. BARL is coordinating with Darren Law of the Bondurant Racing School to put the necessary in place in order to meet the requirements to successfully conduct and complete the accredited SCCA licensing course. Darren Law races for one of the Porche teams and is a 2009 winner of the Rolex 24 hour at Daytona. He was driving one of the Porche Prototypes. Darren has agreed to come for our July 13 international as an observer. We have asked Darren to invite John O Connell, who is a Vice President at the Bondurant Racing School, to come in July. They will be looking at the region’s drivers with a view of identifying potential talent who can possibly get an invitation and opportunity to compete in shoot out competitions. This exposure will give those drivers a chance to show off their skills and see if they can be recruited to race for one of the racing teams as professionals in different series. John O Connell is a 4 time La Mans winner and the 2013 champion for the Pirelli World Challenge Series. Last month, he won the long Beach Grand Prix. The Bondurant Racing School is one of the sponsors of the Pirelli World Challenge Series. Bob Bondurant is one of the racing legends. This year there are celebrations in the racing fraternity acknowledging and honoring his feat as being the first American to beat Ferrari in the 1964 La Mans driving one of the 2 Shelby Cobras entered in that race. Back then he drove for the Carroll Shelby Ford Cobra racing team. In 1965 he won the FIA Manufacturers World Championship for Shelby American and Ford, winning seven out often races against the class dominating Ferrari 250 GTOs in Europe. In the same year he drove a works Ferrari Formula 1 during the United States Grand Prix at Watkins Glen, and handled a Lotus 33 at the following Mexican race. For 1967 he drove in the Can Am series and in a Corvette L88 Coupe at Le Mans, and led the GT class until a wrist pin failed putting the car out in the early morning. Later that month while driving a McLaren, at Watkins Glen, the steering arm broke at 150 mph. Bob sustained serious rib, leg, foot and, most seriously, back injuries in the subsequent accident in which his car flipped eight times. Doctors told him he would likely never walk again, but through courage and hard work he overcame his injuries. BARL has asked him if he can fit us into his celebration schedule and visit Barbados for our July International. Hopefully we will soon know whether he will be joining Darren Law as our guest for BARL’s International meet The Bondurant Racing School has graduated nearly half million students since 1968 and can boast an alumni consisting of many famous racing drivers such as Bill Elliot, Dale Earnhardt, both senior and junior, Kyle Bucsh and Kyle Petty, among others from NASCAR. Some other famous drivers are Scott Pruett, David Donohue, Johnny O Connell and Darren Law himself. Then there are celebrities such as Clint Eastwood, Gene Hackman, Nicolos Cage, Paul Newman, Tom Cruise, Tim Allen, Tommy Lee-Jones, and William Shatner from Star Trek. Those are just a few. BARL is returning to its core values which is consistent with the direction that international racing is going. Put a cap on spending and make it affordable as possible. Those with the resources can spend at the high end but BARL also wants to keep it competitive for those on a limited budget. We think it should more be about the driving skill rather than money. Keeping car specs as close as possible, results in more exciting racing. Great is emphasis is placed on driver against driver and not only on car against car. It separates the sheep from the goats and shows who the real drivers are. That’s what the scouts are looking for when they come to Barbados to look for our talent in the region. (PR)
Posted on: Wed, 21 May 2014 16:57:58 +0000
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