Drag racing strip
for Pond Island
PHILIPSBURG--St. Maarten is home to more than 25 race cars, but no racing strip. Drivers have to ship their cars off-island to maintain their edge and to compete. This will soon be a thing of past, as plans for a drag racing strip on Pond Island take shape.
A one-eighth-mile strip behind Festival Village is under consideration by Public Works Commissioner Theo Heyliger. The initial plans were discussed by Heyliger with Henry Ellis and Victor Peterson of St. Maarten Motor Sports Foundation. The foundation members have been persistent about need for a proper strip for more than a decade.
The foundation representatives added their suggestions and observations to the existing plans, which still have to be fine-tuned, in a meeting with Heyliger, Head of New Projects Development and Planning Kurt Ruan, and Jan vanden Eynde and Dennis Elshot of Independent Consulting Engineers (ICE) in the Yellow Building Wednesday.
The strip will be designed in accordance with international drag racing requirements and specifications. The arena will be designed to host more than 6,000 fans. Project cost still has to be worked out. An estimate is expected in the near future and once it is available, funding will be sought for the project.
The strip will be within earshot of University of St. Martin, but classes should not be affected by noise from the cars, because most races will be staged on weekends and a sound barrier will be erected.
Heyliger said the community had been looking for more activities for years. The strip will provide residents with weekend racing schedules and add another attraction for tourists. “It all ties into the master plan for Pond Island. The area is being beautified and new projects are taking shape.”
A drag racing strip is an excellent tourist attraction, judging from the influx of visitors to the nearest strip, in Antigua, said the commissioner, who visited Antigua with a team of island’s racers earlier this month. About 60 cars, from as far as Trinidad, were shipped in for the meet that was spread out over four days.
Local drag racers head to Antigua for another meet on August 17.
The “eyesore” of the landfill that makes up Pond Island will disappear once new approaches to garbage collection are implemented, leaving the area available for more facilities such as this, Heyliger said. “Our racers have no place to test their cars and equipment or to practice here. It’s time this changes.”
Ruan told The Daily Herald, “With the Festival Village more than 50 per cent completed, the vision for Pond Island is taking shape. It is the foundation’s desire for a drag racing strip and government is trying to make it a reality.”
Ellis said there had been different plans over the years and it was good to see a final approach was being reached. He and Peterson pointed out that the strip would benefit the entire racing community, because it would provide a place for street racers to enjoy their sport instead of racing illegally on the roads.
