THE Barbados Auto Racing League (BARL) has said that the controversial Caribbean Motor Racing Championships (CMRC) race held in the dark at the end of the August 28 meet, will be re-run in Guyana in November.

At the Barbados leg of the championship, drivers complained about the unsafe nighttime conditions under which they were requested to compete in the final race of the meet.

No awards were presented for that disputed race.

In a statement released by BARL secretary, Kurt Seabra, it was disclosed that the decision to re-run the night race was made by majority vote, after discussions were held with stakeholders in participating countries.

But the Jamaica Race Drivers Club (JRDC) has strongly opposed BARL’s decision.

The JRDC has since written to the CMRC committee protesting the move, with secretary of the club and Reggae Racer, David Summerbell Jr insisting that the result of the race should be made official as no breaches occurred and the rules did not speak to a re-run.

“In looking at it there is nothing in the rules allowing us to re-run the race, they (CMRC committee) have erred in that decision so they will have to take it back,” said Summerbell Jr. “Mr Jardine (JRDC president) has written in protest and we are just waiting for their response. The race was run and there is no reason to have it re-run; all the rules were followed and the distance of the race was more than the required 75 per cent,” added Summerbell Jr, the defending country champion.

Summerbell Jr also argued that the logistics of re-staging the race might not be practical for all the drivers involved.

“Even if the drivers will be allowed two additional slick tyres over the eight allocated for each CMRC round, the expense is still an issue. Furthermore, all the drivers may not be able to participate in Guyana. Where it will finally go I don’t know, but a re-run should be out of the question,” Summerbell told Auto.

But according to Seabra, the race was run in dark conditions and that is enough grounds for a re-run.

“In the strictest sense, proper race procedure was not, and could not, be followed. Our races are controlled by flag signals and, in this instance, drivers, by their own admission, could not possibly see whether any such flags were waved,” Seabra contended. “This led to the confusion of drivers slowing, because they could not see, or because they thought the race was over. Some cars were bumped, forcing them to retire from the race, and neither officials nor drivers can correctly say by whom,” he added.

Seabra, in the statement, said that after speaking with Mahendra Boodhoo, Guyana CMRC representative and chairman of the Barbados leg, as well as drivers of Team Barbados and Team Guyana, there was consensus that it would “make a bad situation worse” if the result of the disputed race was made official.

“Unfortunately, Team Jamaica is not in favour of our decision,” Seabra accepted.