The chairman of Bahamas Speed Week Revival has said that groundbreaking on a race track that will allow Bahamas Speed Week to "treble" its participant numbers and "double" its economic impact, must occur by February of next year, with the race track critical to tapping further into the U.S. racing market.
David McLaughlin, who is also the event director of Speed Week Revival, said the racing track could be an "international facility" that could be used for multiple sporting events throughout the year, making it a "sustainable" investment for the government.
Guardian Business understands the development of the track could cost between $1 million to $2 million.
The co-owner of a luxury Exuma resort, which is hosting a large group of high-net-worth individuals involved in Speed Week, has also backed government's plans to support the racing event by building a new race track, saying he "can't stress enough" the importance of the development for the ongoing success of the three-year-old event.
Deputy Prime Minister Philip Brave Davis announced plans for the government to construct the race track in time for next year's Bahamas Speed Week, during the opening of the event last week.
The track will incorporate some of the original Oakes Field race track, which formed the epicenter of the original Nassau Speed Week, which would celebrate its 60th anniversary next year.
Peter Nicholson, co-owner of Grand Isle Resort and Spa in Great Exuma, told Guardian Business: "The third speed week revival was a success, and everyone was talking about the bright future it has as long as we can get the track built; that's the key ingredient and we can't stress enough that we really need that speedway.
"That's been the buzz throughout the whole weekend; how excited people are about the track. The concern we have is that the track at Arawak Cay can only go so far. We've hit maximum efficiency there. It really needs to go to a larger track and a larger level."
This year Bahamas Speed Week generated just under 1,000 room nights for local hotels, according to its organizers.
It drew dozens of high-net-worth drivers, who brought vintage and modern super cars valued in some cases up to $6 million, from countries including the U.S., Canada, the UK, Belgium, Switzerland, Germany and Denmark.
For now, the event has been heavily European-centric, but with the addition of the race track, it is believed that it can treble the number of participants by encouraging more U.S. racers to enter. By enabling Speed Week to incorporate more racing, the idea would also be to allow it to transition to a more spectator-based event, encouraging yet more visitors.
"Undoubtedly it's fun to drive on a street track but you can't race seriously on that. On a purpose-built facility with all the safety features I am sure the American drivers will come," said McLaughlin.
"Back in the day, Nassau Speed Week was like a kind of Super Bowl, a play off between Americans and Europeans, and the top drivers of the day came. We're confident that we will be able to attract some of the top drivers that used to race if the track gets built."
McLaughlin said that the track would ideally be under construction by February, with marketing to begin shortly thereafter.
Nicholson suggested there could be a significant multiplier effect from attracting dozens of extremely high-net-worth individuals to The Bahamas on an annual basis via the event.
His resort has been selected as the Out Island host for 32 participants, fans and organizers of the event this year, a move which both he and McLaughlin said bodes well for the impact of the event on the wider Bahamian economy.
Nicholson, who chartered four planes and a helicopter to bring in and host the Speed Week visitors at the resort, where he purchased 31 villas in early 2012, said the relationship with Speed Week makes good business sense for Grand Isle Resort and Spa.
"It's important for The Bahamas to have events to bring people in, to give them a reason to come for a long weekend, and motor car racing is a high-net-worth attraction and The Bahamas and the Caribbean is a high-net-worth place; it's not the cheapest place to come and visit.
"The drivers themselves all seem to be multimillionaires, the cars are incredibly expensive to own and maintain and even the fans that came, they are car enthusiasts and they are all high-net-worth individuals. People who own expensive race cars are the same people who want to have luxury villas, so we feel it's going to be a good fit."
McLaughlin said he has long hoped to expand the scope of Bahamas Speed Week to take in more islands.
"My quest for three years has been to send all the visiting drivers home, many of whom are very, very, wealthy having seen the real beauty of The Bahamas, to be able to take people to the Exumas and to send people home with that message," he added.

Click here to read more at The Nassau Guardian