Bushy Park Circuit is a

motorsport Motorsport or motor sport are sporting events, competitions and related activities that primarily involve the use of Car, automobiles, motorcycles, motorboats and Aircraft, powered aircraft. For each of these vehicle types, the more specific term ...

race track A race track (racetrack, racing track or racing circuit) is a facility built for racing of vehicles, athletes, or animals (e.g. horse racing or greyhound racing). A race track also may feature grandstands or concourses. Race tracks are also us ...

in the parish of St. Philip,

Barbados Barbados, officially the Republic of Barbados, is an island country in the Atlantic Ocean. It is part of the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies and the easternmost island of the Caribbean region. It lies on the boundary of the South American ...

. The circuit features a FIA Grade 4 course and a CIK Grade 1 course.

History

The original race track was built in 1971 by sugar cane plantation workers as a circuit. The circuit became a hub for racing in the

Caribbean The Caribbean ( , ; ; ; ) is a region in the middle of the Americas centered around the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, mostly overlapping with the West Indies. Bordered by North America to the north, Central America ...

over the next three decades, however had fallen into disrepair by the mid-2000s. Local rally driver Ralph Williams coerced the FIA and Apex Circuit Design into supporting the circuit's redevelopment, a cause that was boosted by the large crowds witnessed at the local touring car event which delegates chose to attend. Reconstruction began in 2013 on what was grandly proposed as the central hub for racing in the Caribbean. The track was refurbished and reopened in 2014 with the inaugural event being the

Top Gear Top Gear may refer to: * "Top gear", the highest gear available in a vehicle's manual transmission Television * ''Top Gear'' (1977 TV series), a British motoring magazine programme * ''Top Gear'' (2002 TV series), a relaunched version of the ori ...

Festival featuring the

Global RallyCross Championship Global Rallycross (known as Red Bull Global Rallycross for sponsorship reasons) was a rallycross series operated by businessmen Colin Dyne in conjunction with Sponsor RedBull. The series ran for seven seasons, primarily in North America, from 201 ...

. Later in the same year it hosted the

2014 Race of Champions The 2014 Race of Champions was the 26th running of the event, and took place over 13–14 December 2014 at Bushy Park circuit in Barbados. The Nations' Cup was won by the Nordic team of Tom Kristensen and Petter Solberg, while the individual con ...

. The

returned in 2015 for a double-header event. Bushy Park has also since been used as a stage for Rally Barbados. Initially awarded a Grade Three license, a 2016 legal dispute that rendered the track unusable for 18 months would see the FIA downgrade the circuit to a Grade Four licence. The circuit is owned by property developer Mark Maloney, uncle of

Formula E Formula E, officially the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship, is an open-wheel single-seater motorsport championship for electric cars. The racing series is the highest class of competition for electrically powered single-seater racing cars ...

driver

Zane Maloney Zane Maloney (born 2 October 2003) is a Barbadian racing driver, who competes in Formula E for Abt Sportsline, Lola Yamaha ABT. He previously competed in the 2024 FIA Formula 2 Championship for Rodin Motorsport, Rodin, having debuted for the te ...

References

External links

Motorsport in BarbadosCircuit website
Motorsport venues in Barbados Populated places in Barbados {{barbados-geo-stub