Bahamas Speed Week

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The Bahamas Speed Week was an annual motor racing meeting held at Nassau in The Bahamas from 1954 to 1966.

History[]

First held in 1954 on the Windsor Field Road Course in Nassau, the inaugural event was titled as the Nassau Trophy Road Races.[1] [2] Masten Gregory won the main race, the Nassau Trophy, in a Ferrari 375 MM.[1] The 1956 meeting was promoted as the Third Annual International Bahamas Speed Week.[3] For 1957, the meeting was moved to another airfield location, the 5-mile (8.0 km) anti-clockwise Oakes Field Course, which was closer to the main population areas on the island. For 1958 onwards, the circuit was shortened to 4.5-mile (7.2 km) and the circuit was run in clockwise direction.[4]

Due to needed track repairs and the lack of additional funding by the Bahamian government, as well as competition from more races running in December, the event was discontinued after the 1966 edition.[5]

The success of the Bahamas Speed Week led to the creation of other events in the Caribbean, like the Cuban Grand Prix and the Puerto Rico Grand Prix.

Nassau Trophy[]

A Ferrari 857 S, similar to the example driven to victory by Phil Hill in the 1955 Nassau Trophy
Hap Sharp and Roger Penske won the 1964 Nassau Trophy driving the Chaparral 2A. Sharp also won the 1965 race in the same car.

The following table lists the winners of the Nassau Trophy, the feature race at each of the 13 Speed Week meetings.

Year [6] Winning driver [6] Car [6]
Windsor Field
1954 Masten Gregory Ferrari 375 MM
1955 Phil Hill Ferrari 857 S
1956 Stirling Moss Maserati 300S
Oakes Field
1957 Stirling Moss Ferrari 290 MM
1958 Lance Reventlow,
Chuck Daigh 		Scarab Mk I Chevrolet
1959 George Constantine Aston Martin DBR2/420
1960 Dan Gurney Lotus 19 Coventry Climax
1961 Dan Gurney Lotus 19 Coventry Climax
1962 Innes Ireland Lotus 19 Coventry Climax
1963 A. J. Foyt Scarab Mk IV Chevrolet
1964 Hap Sharp,
Roger Penske 		Chaparral 2A Chevrolet
1965 Hap Sharp Chaparral 2A Chevrolet
1966 Mark Donohue Lola T70 Mk.2 Chevrolet

  • Windsor Field (1954-1956)

  • Oakes Field (1957)

  • Oakes Field (1958-1966)

Bahamas Speed Week Revival[]

Lineup of main contenders in the 2011 Bahamas Speed Week Revival. In the foreground Stirling Moss in his Morelli-bodied O.S.C.A. FS 372.

Since 2011 the Bahamas Speed Week Revival has taken place along the beach at Nassau and down from the harbor. Cars range from vintage racers to new vehicles that now race in a time trials format.[5]

References[]

  1. ^ a b Nassau Speed Weeks 1954, www.wsrp.cz Retrieved 11 September 2018
  2. ^ Official Programme, Nassau Trophy Road Races, Windsor Field Road Course, December 6 through 12 1954, www.racingsportscars.com Retrieved 11 September 2018
  3. ^ Nassau Speed Weeks 1956, www.wsrp.cz Retrieved 11 September 2018
  4. ^ Terry O'Neill, The Bahamas Speed Weeks, Veloce Publishing Ltd, page 14.
  5. ^ a b Smith, Steven Cole (December 24, 2012). "Bahamas Speed Week Revival". Autoweek. 62 (26): 20–21. ISSN 0192-9674.
  6. ^ a b c Nassau Speed Weeks, www.wsrp.cz Retrieved 11 September 2018

External links[]

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