Changes at Barbados Motoring Federation ahead of new season

As the Barbados Motoring Federation (BMF) prepares for this weekend’s start of the 2018 motor sport season, it does so without long-standing Vice-President John Sealy, who has retired. In a heartfelt tribute to the former VP, BMF President Andrew Mallalieu acknowledged that “replacing John with just one person is impossible”, so there will be some changes in the BMF structure.

  Nearly 50 events to be organised by the BMF’s seven sporting Member Clubs are listed on the Approved 2018 Calendar, published today (January 23), which runs for 10 months until the first weekend of December. A broad cross-section of motor sport disciplines is covered, from grass-roots autocross, dexterity and karting events, through circuit racing and drag racing to off-road 4x4 navigational events, rallycross, rallysprints, special stage rallies and speed events.

  The key international dates currently confirmed are: Sol Rally Barbados, which will run from Friday to Sunday, June 1 to 3, with Flow King of the Hill the previous Sunday (May 27); the Barbados Historic Rally Carnival is scheduled for November 16 to 26; the Seaboard Marine Caribbean Motor Racing Championship will return to Bushy Park Barbados over the weekend of September 1/2.

  While Sealy has retired from his position as VP of the BMF, he remains President of the Barbados Automobile Association (BAA) and will continue to work in his private capacity as manager of the Federation’s insurance scheme. Mark Hamilton has been elected as BMF Vice-President for 2018.

  Mallalieu says: “A transition is under way, as we seek the best structure for the BMF moving forward in our fast-developing motor sport environment. The committee has recognised that replacing John with just one person is impossible, so we have agreed to split the load that he was carrying by having Champions in the areas of competitor licences, event permits and training. John has been key in our training programmes and we are working with him on the plan for this year, which will be led by Mark Hamilton through the training committee Chairman Warren Gollop.

  “It is difficult to find the right words to acknowledge the contribution John Sealy has made, not only during his time with the BMF, but also in his many years as an official of the Barbados Rally Club. We all owe him a huge debt of gratitude for the determined way in which he worked on the complex insurance issues within our sport on the way to creating the environment in which we compete today.

  “I am delighted to confirm that, through his Presidency of the Automobile Association, he will continue to push ahead with further initiatives in the Mobility field. This is an area in which his commitment earned the respect of our peers at the FIA, not only for John as an individual, but also for the BMF and for Barbados as an affiliated country. John has also retired as a delegate on the World Council for Mobility, where he represented our zone for the past five years, the first such representative from the Caribbean.”

  The BMF’s seven sporting Member Clubs are the Barbados Association of Dragsters & Drifters (BADD), Barbados Auto Racing League (BARL), Barbados Karting Association (BKA), Barbados Rally Club (BRC), Bushy Park Motor Sports Inc (BPMSI), the Motoring Club of Barbados Inc (MCBI) and the Vaucluse Raceway Motorsports Club (VRMSC).

Editor’s note: affiliated to the Federation Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA), which rules the sport worldwide, the Barbados Motoring Federation (BMF) is the island’s governing body for motor sport; it also represents the interests of its Member Clubs in discussions with Government departments which facilitate the sport in the island, in particular the Ministry of Public Works and Transport, which permits road closures for an agreed number of events each year. Away from motor sport, the BMF affiliate which answers the FIA Mobility remit is the Barbados Automobile Association (BAA), which is an executive committee member of the Government’s Barbados Road Safety Council.