Former Drag Racing Head Denies She Walked Away From Antigua Pro Racing

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Former president of the Antigua and Barbuda Drag Racing Association (ABDRA), Lisa Abraham.
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The former president of the Antigua and Barbuda Drag Racing Association (ABDRA), Lisa Abraham, has categorically denied reports that she voluntarily left the Antigua Pro Racing (APR) Ltd, hinting that she was pushed out after questioning the motives of some during a meeting held in 2018.

Speaking on the Good Morning Jojo Sports Show on Thursday, Abraham sought to debunk reports that she left the body because the drag racing fraternity, which she headed at the time, did not want to comply with rules laid down by the international governing for the sport, the FIA (Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile).

Abraham said she was totally cut off from the group following that meeting.

“There was one meeting after that I was invited to, and it was on a Wednesday and as you may know I did Auto Talk on a Wednesday and it was at the same time, coincidentally, as my radio show. I wasn’t going to cancel my radio show to attend a meeting when they knew that every Wednesday, I am on the radio at this time. I communicated that I could not be at the meeting and from then I no longer had access to the email and that is how I communicated with the FIA via the email because they would send a link that you click on and that’s how you get all the updates and so on,” she said.

“My phone sent me that alert that I needed to enter new specifics, so I was no longer able to enter the email; no more communication came to me from then, so I just said that I got expelled,” she added.

Head of the APR, Carlo Falcone, had said previously that although drag racing is not affiliated with the FIA, his organisation is responsible for all motorsports in Antigua and Barbuda. He also assured that in the near future, a number of drag racing figures will be included on the APR board.

According to Abraham, however, individual research has suggested there is no need, at the present time, for the drag racing association to become affiliated with the FIA.

“Mr Lewis Elder at the time, he was a part of our board and was responsible for setting up our rule books and so on. He did some research and he came back and said that it made sense for us to continue on the path we were going on because from the little research he did, FIA was primarily circuit and rally racing and that’s what everybody knew them as, so the drag racers opted not to join up with the FIA arrangement. I said to Carlo that this is what the drag racers position is and he said no we’re not doing anything drag racing, this is something completely different, we’re looking at the possibility for rally in Antigua. I said okay, cool, no problem and he asked my assistance to put in the application and so on and so I assisted him,” she said.

The former drag racing boss is hoping for an amicable end to the ongoing process where everyone benefits.

“I trust that we can find one because I am a drag racer and I would love to race my car ultimately, so wherever all of this goes, I trust that on the next side we will all come to some reasonable understanding and nobody needs to be tossing blame here, there and everywhere and who didn’t do,” she said.

No races have been held at the North Sound Raceway since March, following the death of racing driver Marcus Williams during the staging of an event there. Williams’ death was however, not due to any safety breaches at the track but the sport was halted along with all other sporting activities as part of government’s efforts to slow the spread of the deadly coronavirus.

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