Sports Minister Randolph Horton last night said he would not comment on criticisms about the safety of Clearwater racing track until the report on Sunday's fatal accident was released.

But he said he hoped a new purpose-built track could be built near to Clearwater by the start of the new racing season in September.

Mr. Horton labelled claims that the present track in St. David's was unsafe as "insensitive" in the light that go-karter Jason Christopher Matthew, 30, died there on Sunday afternoon.

And he said no blame should be placed anywhere until the investigation is complete.

Following the accident, president of the Bermuda Motorcycle Racing Club David Jones said he informed Government last year that he believed the track was not safe. And he said nobody should have been racing on the track.

But last night, Mr. Horton said many meetings had been held between the Ministry last year and both the Bermuda Karting Club and the motorcycle racing club. The Minister said he did not understand why the criticisms were being made.

He said: "We are not currently carrying out our own investigation into the crash.

"The Police and the karting club are investigating the accident, so we are waiting to hear from them."

And asked about the safety issue, he added: "I really considered his (Mr. Jones') remarks as being very insensitive, particularly in light of the grief the Matthew family is experiencing.

"An investigation is being pursued to determine the causes of this unfortunate accident. As I said earlier, we want to make decisions based on information and fact. I will be very happy to talk once I have the report."

The racing groups have been urging Government to provide the Island with a purpose-built track for some time now. Meetings and discussions were held last year between the organisations, and then Minister, Dennis Lister.

He said: "I can say that I'm hopeful that when the new season starts in September that they will be able to race on a new track.

"We are not talking about a whole new stadium. Initially, it's going to be a track they can ride on. The plan is to have it right adjacent to where the track is now in Clearwater.

Last night, the motorcycle club's Mr. Jones extended his sincere condolences to Mr. Matthew's family and said, as a mark of respect, the club would not be racing this coming Sunday. A meeting is also to be held next week involving all club members to decide whether or not they should continue with the racing season or not.

But Mr. Jones said he was aware of the proposals to build the new track before the start of the season and said everyone was hoping it would be completed soon.

He said: "Safety precautions will be in place and, hopefully, we would have no fatalities. We all know it's motor racing and things do happen, and some things are just so unfortunate, but we are all hoping to be down there in September."

Mr. Jones declined to comment on Mr.Horton's claim that his criticisms were insensitive.

The Royal Gazette was unable to contact the Bermuda Karting Club last night.