IT’S all systems go for the Montego Bay Motoring Club’s season opener, Launch Pad, at Badda Badda Raceway in Priory, St Ann, tomorrow.

“We have gotten interest from over twenty drivers,” Mark March, MBMC president, told Auto.

The first sprint of the motorsports season had been original planned for February 21, but was moved to March 14, due to inclement weather. The extra time has benefited the club as this gave competitors more time to prepare. March said they’ve also been refining the track surface and layout.

Launch Pad is being used as a test bed for night events as it will start at 3:00 pm in the afternoon with the main event scheduled for 6:30 pm. The first session will see drivers given a two lap timed shoot-out before having to tackle in the circuit in the late hours.

“The evening time attack is allow competitors some form of track familiarisation before they have to race on it in the dark,” March explained.

Once dark, the venue will be lit with floodlights, but still offer a significant challenge, as it won’t be completely illuminated. At that point, Launch Pad will follow the standard sprint format, with three runs for each driver from which the top 10 fastest overall will compete for MBMC sprint championship points.

“It’s been a while since anyone has done anything like this. We’re trying to add some spice to the sport,” March said.

While night events aren’t new to the western side of the island, which sees a host of wet dexterities and drift contests, the concept of a night sprint is relatively untried in recent memory.

“If this event works the way we expect it to, this could signal the return of night rallying,” March added.

— Rory Daley