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| Ferrari Formula One car launching Shell V-Power gasoline in Barbados Nov 26 (Photo: Albert/Luke St John) | |
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BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, November 27, 2006 - In other Caribbean countries the Simpson Oil Company (SOL) announced the arrival of the new Shell V-power high performance gasoline with a news release but in Barbados where it is headquartered, it choose to announce it with a Ferrari Formula One show.
Thousands turned out Sunday on a stretch of the "ABC" Highway to watch Ferrari test drive Marc Gene perform. Just over one mile of the highway was closed with temporary fencing erected on both sides to keep the spectators at bay.
He first test drove from the Warrens Roundabout where a Shell station is located to the Redman's junction to another Shell service station to get a feel of the road. Many spectators were a little disappointed at first but then he unleashed the power.
"The road was a little slippery and I had to be careful because I was so close to the spectators," said Gene pushed his Formula One Ferrari to 155 miles per hour (270 kilometers per hour) achieving in just under 25 seconds what it takes a normal car three minutes to do.
"I got to do some donuts, something that I would not be allowed to do ordinarily," he told reporters afterwards. "Being so close to the spectators, it was good feeling the thrill of the excitement."
SOL, whose parent company is Simpson Motors located at Warrens in Barbados, was formed in 2003 and two years later it purchased Shell's network in the Eastern Caribbean, Suriname, Guyana, and Belize. In August this year it purchased Shell Puerto Rico bringing to 14 the number of Caribbean countries in which it is operating.
It has 289 stations across the Caribbean.
During the event farmers from the southern parish of Christ Church came out to the event to protest the pollution of their farming lands with AVJET fuel by Shell over a two decade period. A pipeline which transported aviation fuel from the Oistins bulk storage terminal to the Grantley Adams International Airport, about five miles away. There was a slow leak on the line which dumped an untold quantity of fuel into land which seeped into irrigation water wells. Negotiations had been ongoing and Shell offered a settlement reported to be BDS$2 million which was rejected by the farmers. A Shell official at the event said he would be happy to discuss the matter but behind closed doors.
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