FIA Annual Prize Giving & Cocktail Party - 8th December
Article by Selwyn "Bunny" Persad

The Annual Prize Giving and Cocktail Party 2006 of the Federation Internationale de L’Automobile (FIA) was held in Monaco on Friday 8th December, 2006 and for the third consecutive year Trinidad and Tobago is privileged to be represented at such a prestigious event.

Though not very big, only about 1000 attendees, the cross section comprised persons from almost every major facet of the sport – sponsors, car manufacturers, team managers, representatives of the National Sporting Authorities (ASNs) of FIA, and most importantly the stars of the evening, all of the world champion drivers of the various disciplines such as karting, drag racing, rally and auto cross.

The glamour, glitter and well-organized execution of the event was guaranteed to wow anyone, motor sport enthusiast or not, and though this was my third year attending, it still took my breath away. The event operated true “academy award” style, whereby, upon one’s arrival on the red carpet, one was ushered to one’s seat, amid a flurry of photographers and television cameras.

Representatives of the ASNs were seated together randomly, and this I believe gave me an excellent opportunity to discuss with the foreign contingent problems that they may have experienced with the sport, as well as new ideas to continuously bolster motor sport here in Trinidad. I was indeed also extremely proud to promote my country at this venture.

ASNs were also honored by having their flag displayed on the walls around the room hosting the award ceremony. Well I do not know if it was by error or by design, but there were two of our flags on display, as opposed to only one of everyone else’s. this I pointed out proudly to the Presidents of the ASNs of Greece and Denmark, seated at my table.

The prize giving ceremony was so well organized and rehearsed that it was a pleasure to behold the various Motor Sporting greats go onstage to receive their accolades. Some of the world champions included CIK FIA Karting Champion Davide Fore, FIA World Rally Champ Sebastian Loeb, FIA Formula 1 Champ Fernando Alonso (photo 1) and FIA Academy Gold Medalist Michael Schumacher.

After the prize giving ceremony was completed, the guests were allowed to socialize with these heroes and as such, I had the pleasure of meeting Michael Schumacher and later Sebastian Loeb and co-driver Daniel Elena (photo 2), who cupped the World Rally Championship for the second time this year.

I also had the honor of meeting Fernando Alonso in person. In clinching the drivers’ crown for the second year running Alonso has sealed his place among the Motor Sport greats as a double world champion. To put his achievement in context – both Emerson Fittipaldi and Michael Schumacher were OLDER that Fernando Alonso is now, before they claimed their FIRST titles.

However though I returned home overjoyed that our country had gotten exposure at such a prominent level, I was also too a bit despondent, after seeing where Motor Racing could reach but seeing where it is presently in our country.

Trinidad’s ASN for Motor Sport is the Trinidad and Tobago Automobile Sports Association (TTASA), and it has been in existence for the past 40 years. Over that time the association has tried assiduously to attain some form of tenure for the island’s sole Motor sport facility Wallerfield.

Each time the association was directed to some new overseeing body it was asked to resubmit a business plan.

In February 2005 TTASA was referred to E-Teck, and taking over the reins of their predecessors, TTASA was asked for yet another business plan. Less that six months after having been asked, and submitting a plan, TTASA was served an eviction notice.

Needless to say this came as a shock to the entire Motor Sport Community, and in all efforts to try to save Motor Sport, TTASA filed an injunction against E-Teck.

The plight of Motor Sport came to light in the wake of several media stories, and TTASA was called in to a meeting with E-Teck and too the Minister of Sport, the Honorable Mr. Roger Boynes.

It was agreed thereafter that TTASA would continue to use Wallerfield, and in the interim, the Ministry of Sport gave TTASA 5 potential locations to view, with the hope that it could expedite the building of a new facility. Sad to say, ONE YEAR LATER, TTASA lost its appeal to gain Wallerfield, with not even a hint of an alternative location from our Minister of Sport.

The many Motor Sport enthusiasts who saw that FIA Prize giving live on television, and those of you who know the dilemma of Motor Sport can understand the despair that abounds.

Our Country is a member of the International Governing Body for Motor Sport, FIA. TTASA is also a founding member of NACAM, which is the zone of FIA responsible for this region.

Why sell ourselves short, our country has the potential to produce world class achievers too! To start with our very own local driver Daniel Ramoutarsingh is presently a driver in one of the series of NACAM.

I, Selwyn Persad, past president of TTASA and presently FIA/NACAM delegate, also hold the position of PRO SECRETARY General on the board of NACAM.
Our next progressive step should be FIA! And why shouldn’t we ??? We can achieve it!