Motorsport enthusiasts deride government for failing to keep word on race track

Motorsport enthusiasts insist government has so far not delivered on a race track promised in the electoral programmes of 2013 and 2017

A race track will cater for various motorsport activities, including go-karts
A race track will cater for various motorsport activities, including go-karts

Motorsport enthusiasts have accused the government of reneging on its electoral promise to build a race track after discussions on the matter appear to have stalled.

They will now take to the road to raise awareness about the need for a motorsport facility that will double up as a track for road safety practice.

In a statement, the pressure group Respect Motorsport said it will be organising its second awareness activity next Sunday. It urged enthusiasts to gather at the Pembroke park and ride and the car park next to the Black Pearl in Ta’ Xbiex at 8am.

The group has pitched its call on road safety, insisting a track would double-up as a road safety facility that would help improve motorists’ driving skills.

At a first event organised last November, more than 500 car owners gathered at Ta’ Qali.

The group said that motorsport trainees had to go abroad to train and practice their sport.

In February, the Malta Motorsport Federation lamented the lack of response from the government to a proposal it put forward a few months earlier for a three-kilometre racetrack.

There has been no progress on a proposal for a motorsport race track despite repeated government promises that it would identify land for the project, the motorsport federation had said.

Sports Parliamentary Secretary Clifton Grima had insisted the government was committed to fulfil its pledge to ensure motorsport enthusiasts get a racing track.

READ ALSO: Motorsports race track will take up 170,000 square metres of land