Motorsports racing track hunt tops agenda at AGM
Building a new race track was one of the top agenda at the Fiji Motorsports Association annual general meeting the past Sunday. Fiji Motorsports Association President Raizal Haniff said the executive members met to discuss the plans of acquiring a 60 to 80 acre land for a new race track.
Initially, the association hosted drag races at the Nanuku Resort Aerodrome in Pacific Harbour. However, Mr Haniff said after their contract with Nanuku ended two years ago, since then no drag race has been hosted.
“We have been facing challenges with hosting drag races due to the obvious fact that we don’t have a race track in Fiji,” Mr Haniff said. “The main topic discussed in the AGM was the racing track and how we can go forward with obtaining land to build a race track.
“We have been looking for the race track for the past two years,” he said.
The association met with the Minister for Lands and Mineral Resources, Mr Filimoni Vosarogo and the Deputy Prime Minister, Mr Manoa Kamikamica for assistance in acquiring land.
“They said they would come back to us and we are still waiting and are optimistic the Government will assist us.
“But the question is when?
“As far as Fiji Motorsports, the executives has been going out in the weekends and meeting with land owners.
“However, there hasn’t been any
luck but we will not stop and continue engaging with landowners who could help us in getting land,” he said.
It’s been two years since a drag race was organised in Fiji and Mr Haniff said there is a big demand from car enthusiasts for a race track.
“We have a lot of demand from sports car owners to have a drag race hosted.
“Unfortunately, our hands are really tight as we are trying our best in finding a flat land to host the race.
“The boys are ever ready with their cars.
“We see a lot of cars racing on the Fiji roads but at the end of the day, our advice to them is not to race as this may cause accidents.
“We want to request them to be patient with us and we aim to provide them with a race track by the end of this year,” he said.
Track features
1,000 meters.
60-80-acre flat land.
“A quarter mile drag race is 402 meters, we will need 50 meters for a launch track, 360-400 meters for a vehicle to stop.
“We have to bear in mind that a car finishes at a speed of around 250 to 270 kilometers per hour. “This is the reason we need 300 meters of space to stop,” he said. Mr Haniff also said it was decided in the AGM, that association members will have a meet and greet on a Thursday evening once a month. The chairman for the organizing committee, Mr Moeez Shah will soon update this on our facebook page.
“We might just go for a ride around Suva cCty or up till Navua. “Our associate clubs are hosting car shows.
“But we might look at car shows probably at the end of the year,” he said.