under attack from two quarters.

But Bermuda Auto Cycle Union chairman David Jones continued calling for city chiefs to allow the event.

Mr. Jones was seeking permission to have a motorcycle racing event on Front Street in Hamilton, but was turned down by the Corporation of Hamilton.

He accused the Corporation of bias because previously it had allowed the Bermuda Karting Club to have an event on the city thoroughfare.

However Corporation chiefs pointed out that it was safety concerns which led them to turn down Mr. Jones' request.

While the organisers of the go-kart event had met safety standards through the use of hay bales and metal barriers lining their track, said a Corporation spokesman, the motorcycle race organisers had not.

But Mr. Jones maintained that the Corporation was biased toward his proposal and argued that the use of metal barriers would make his proposed race track on Front Street safe for spectators and participants.

There was little chance of a bike driving straight into a metal barrier and flipping over the top of it into the crowd, he argued.

Any motorcycle which slid out while racing along a straightaway would continue in the direction it was previously heading, said Mr. Jones.

It would not turn 90 degrees and crash into a metal barrier on the side of the track, claimed Mr. Jones.

And he said if the Corporation had any proof to the contrary, then it should make it available.

Meanwhile a former secretary of the BKC fired a broadside at Mr. Jones for attacking go-kart racing.

Vicki Robinson recently pointed out that the Front Street Grand Prix came 24 years after the club became an organised entity and required months of dedicated planning to meet all the Corporation's requirements.

She also noted that the BKC "did everything we could to assist your (club) in getting up and operating''.

"Right down to the fact of the expenses to make repairs to the track, with no assistance from your club,'' she continued.

"You have used our equipment, etc, with no cost to yourself and the overheads were met by us. We have always attempted to support our brothers in sport. It is a hard blow to realise what you really feel about our support.'' Also stepping into the cross-fire was former BACU president Ras Mykkal who threw his support behind the Corporation decision.

"Motorcycle racing in other than a purpose-built facility will have safety hazards,'' he said.

Mr. Mykkal added that it was a case of Mr. Jones' passion blurring his vision.

"David, in his love for on-road motorcycle racing, has lived overseas and raced to a much higher level than other people here,'' Mr. Mykkal said. "He has a much higher knowledge of racing and organisation of events.

"I have spoken to him on a number of occasions, but he has not heeded my advice and I see him creating a problem with what he is trying to do. I think it is a good thing but I also think he is burning more bridges than he is building in his approach to doing what he wants to do.

"David needs to concentrate on getting the road racing division of the BACU organised with a rule book, a constitution and a programme to teach people who are interested in racing the techniques of riding.

"He has skipped these and gone straight into trying to get racing organised.''