Karting Club eyes Dockyard return

Bermuda Karting Club has declared the inaugural Dockyard Grand Prix a rip-roaring success.

Thousands gathered at the Clocktower on Saturday and Sunday to watch the drivers tear around the street track.

The event culminated in the TAG, 125 Shifter and Junior Clone trophy races and there was plenty of drama to enjoy, with spin-offs, turn-one collisions and some classy driving.

Scott ‘Skitchy’ Barnes claimed the marquee 125 Shifter race with a lead-from-the-front performance, while rival David Barbosa won the TAG class despite a skirmish with Barnes and Jason ‘Skuzzie’ North in turn one.

In the Junior Class, Zavier Smith bounced back from a nasty crash on Saturday to hold off the challenge of Blake Horseman and claim top honours.

Barnes, also president of the Bermuda Karting Club, told the Bermuda Sun: “I’m extremely happy. We hit all our goals for the weekend — we had a couple of thousand there for the Saturday races and then upwards of three thousand for the Sunday, which was a really good show.”

Barnes revealed how his dominant win in the Shifters tasted especially sweet after a tricky TAG trophy race. “That was a difficult start,” he said. “David Barbosa took out the front row, which was kind of frustrating. 

“We managed to keep going and worked through the field – I finished third and Skuzzie finished fourth. David made a kind of stupid move into turn one. Maybe he was a little frustrated because he couldn’t quite get it going.

“We had some words afterwards — he’s not in my good books right now!”

He added: “The Shifters was a good race, pretty clean. I led the whole race and finally got my victory.”

Smith, just 13, showed good resilience after his crash and Barnes revealed the youngster’s win was the product of a busy Saturday night.

He said: “He went home with his dad on Saturday night and rebuilt his kart, so good for him. It was good to see he wasn’t hurt because it was a hard crash — probably the hardest of the weekend.”

The club now hopes the success of the Grand Prix will mean it returns next year, while a Hamilton race is also a target.

Barnes said: “The track was bumpy, turn one especially but it’s a street track so it will always be tough.

“All the drivers thought it was a fun track.

“We’re going to speak to the West End Development Corporation (WEDCO) to see if we can do it again.

“I don’t think they were expecting what they saw. Everyone I’ve spoken to said it was a great, great event and would love to see it back. It was also great to see so many kids out — that’s the future of the club.” n

The club would like to thank all its sponsors, St John’s Ambulance and the volunteers who helped make the event happen over the weekend.