The annual, familiar roar of go-kart engines will be missing from the city this year.

Financial hardship has prompted Bermuda Karting Club (BKC) to cancel their seasonal showpiece - the Hamilton Grand Prix - usually held in late March.

Taking full responsibility for the decision, BKC president Delano Telford explained that about $45,000 was needed to host the speedy spectacle and that the club could no longer afford that kind of cash.

"It's just a prudent decision on my part. I didn't want to put the club into a negative financial balance.

"It takes about $45,000 to put on this race and we need to come up with quite a bit of that cash ourselves. We just couldn't see ourselves absorbing any financial burden like that this year. They (members) are not very happy but they understand," he told The Royal Gazette.

In recent months, he explained, the BKC had suffered an almost 50 percent drop in membership because of its current, though temporary, locations.

"It all started from Southside. The temporary track we had there was a rough surface and people didn't want their karts beaten up. Then we decided to move to Morgan's Point and members held off using their equipment until they saw the facility there but some of them didn't like that surface either and it put everybody in a down mood.

"In addition to that we didn't have any gate receipts coming in because we couldn't charge spectators at Southside. The parking lot where we were racing wasn't conducive to charging entrance fees because people had to be allowed in to get to the beach.

"Also people were not coming to races at Morgan's Point so our revenues fell off there also," said Telford, revealing there were only about 250 paid members now compared to nearly 500 before.

Despite a handful of faithful sponsors - Bermuda Container Line, Island Construction, Bermuda Forwarders - the Grand Prix expenses were too much for the club to absorb. Complying with safety precautions, noted the president, would require $8,000 alone to buy hay from overseas for protective buffers.

Another factor was that the membership felt it would be wiser to keep their money for equipment and other necessities for the new, purpose-built permanent track earmarked for Southside.

That long-awaited development, Telford said, was likely to rejuvenate the go-kart community.

"When we get that, I think the enthusiasm will return," he declared, adding that many members have vowed to resume racing once the track is completed.

Asked if the Grand Prix would come back to Hamilton with the advent of the new track, Telford replied: "I would hope so. We would like to keep that option open."