BARBADOS RALLYSPRINT - 1 Jun 03

Posted: June 6, 2003 12:16 AM

The first of the two international motor sport events which make up the 2003 Barbados Rally Carnival was played out in excellent weather in front of the largest crowd ever to assemble at the three-kilometre Vaucluse Raceway for a RallySprint. Two qualifying runs had taken place on Saturday, so it was racing all the way from 9.00am Sunday; sixty-five head-to-head races were run - the most ambitious race programme yet staged by the Vaucluse Raceway Motor Sport Club - with remarkably little by way of incident.

Bearing in mind only five of the 32 overseas visitors had raced at the venue before, they put on an impressive show - in addition to Pointinger's overall victory, they won eight of the 15 Groups and defeated Barbados 130-120 in the Barbados v Rest of the World team competition. Pointinger's day went well from the start: he first defeated England's Graham Samuel (Porsche 911) to win heat one of his Group, then earned his place in the Group-winner's Handicap KnockOut by defeating Finland's Antero Miikkulainen, who was driving his 50th birthday present 1965 Alfa Romeo GTV with great flair.

The Austrian managed to hang on to some of his three-second handicap advantage in his first-round race against Scotland's Graeme Finlayson (Fluke WR1C), then raced against Holland's Wim Wermink (Opel Ascona i2000); Wermink looked set to catch Pointinger, and nearly did so, but for a wild slide on the final turn that saw him off-track and on the grass just yards from the finish line.

In his semi-final, Pointinger faced local hero Trevor 'Electric Micey' Manning in his Mitsubishi Evo 5; Manning was to leave the start pad 20 seconds behind Pointinger - it seemed like an age and, despite 'Micey' recording the fastest time of the day, 2min 11.97sec, it wasn't enough, Pointinger crossing the line barely a length ahead to reach the final and face Barnard.

Barnard's performance in the Corsa had been superb; he defeated Paul Rees (Opel Corsa) from Wales in his heat, then Scotland's Kenny Hall (Opel Corsa-Suzuki) for Group victory.

His first two handicap victories had come two English drivers, Simon Wallis (Vauxhall Astra), whom he hunted down from a seven-second handicap, then Tom Ryan (Proton Satria), against whom his handicap was 15 seconds. In the semi-finals, Barnard had little work to do, as his opponent Simon Gilmore (Peugeot 205) had barely left the start pad before his front-right wheel fell off, the wheel-studs having pulled out.

On a day of tough competition, with many commendable performances, those that stood out included Matt Fowle from England, who pedalled his Peugeot 106XSi to excellent effect, keeping pace with Sean Gill's Suzuki Ignis for most of the weekend; multiple Dutch champion Frans Verbaas (Opel Astra GTE), who had regular Group winner Greg Cozier worried after qualifying on Saturday; England's Terry Pankhurst, whose Peugeot 206 WRC Replica proved as quick as it is well-turned-out; and Kevin Procter, who set the fastest overseas time of the day - 2min 16.11s, a time beaten only by 'Micey'.

Sunbeach International RallySprint 2003 - results

Key to nationalities AUT - Austria; CAN - Canada; ENG - England; HOL - Holland; IRL - Republic of Ireland; JAM - Jamaica; NIR - Northern Ireland; SCO - Scotland; SVG - St Vincent & The Grenadines; TDAD - Trinidad & Tobago; WAL - Wales

Group winner's Handicap KnockOut
FINAL Josef Pointinger - AUT (Hist Ford Escort MkI) beat Neil Barnard (M5 Opel Corsa)
Semi-finals Barnard beat Simon Gillmore (M7 Peugeot 205); Pointinger beat Trevor Manning (M8 Mitsubishi Evo V)
Round 2 Barnard beat Tom Ryan - ENG (P2 Proton Satria); Gillmore beat Sean Gill (M6 Suzuki Ignis); Pointinger beat Wim Wermink - HOL (MO Opel Ascona); Manning beat Terry Pankhurst - ENG (GpB Peugeot 206 WRC) Round 1 Ryan beat Andy Hawkins - ENG (Hist Austin Mini); Barnard beat Simon Wallis - ENG (P3 Vauxhall Astra GSi); Gill beat Kirk Watkins (M6 Toyota Corolla GTi); Gillmore beat Greg Cozier (M7 Ford Escort RS2000); Wermink beat Graeme Finlayson - SCO (MO Fluke WR1C); Pointinger beat John Keatley - NIR (Hist Ford Escort RS1600); Pankhurst beat Barry Gale (P4 Mitsubishi Evo VI)
Best time of the day - Trevor Manning 2m 11.97
Best overseas time of the day Trevor Procter - ENG 2m 16.11

Barbados 120 Rest of the World 130

Group results
Group 1 1st Hawkins; 2nd Alex Whitehead (P2 Datsun 120Y); 3rd Dermot Hassett - IRL (M6 Opel Corsa)
Group 2 1st Ryan; 2nd Shaun Alleyne (P2 Toyota Starlet); 3rd Stephen Moore (P2 Datsun 120Y)
Group 3 1st Wallis; 2nd Freddie Gale (P3 Toyota Starlet Turbo); 3rd Lindsay Farmer (P3 Peugeot 106XSi); 4th Tristan Gibbs (P3 Datsun 160J)
Group 4 1st Barnard; 2nd Kenny Hall - SCO (M5 Opel Corsa-Suzuki); 3rd Paul Rees - WAL (M5 Vauxhall Nova); 4th Roger Marshall (M5 Toyota Starlet)
Group 5 1st Watkins; 2nd James Betts (M6 Toyota Corolla); 3rd Fred Davidson - ENG (M6 Peugeot 205 GTI); 4th Martin Taylor - IRL (M6 Proton Satria)
Group 6 1st Gill; 2nd Steven Ollivierre - SVG (M6 Mitsubishi Mirage); 3rd Matthew Fowle - ENG (M6 Peugeot 106GTI)
Group 7 1st Gillmore; 2nd Andrew Jones (M7 Ford Escort MkII); 3rd Keith Francis - SVG (M7 Hyundai Excel)
Group 8 1st Cozier; 2nd Geoffrey Ullyett (M7 Nissan 200Y); 3rd Frans Verbaas - HOL (M7 Opel Astra GTE); 4th Mick Taylor - ENG (M7 Vauxhall Astra GTE)
Group 9 1st Wermink; 2nd Adam Alleyne (MO Toyota Starlet); 3rd Hugh Peat - ENG (MO Ford Escort-Vauxhall); 4th Walter Aitkin - SCO (MO Ford Escort MkII)
Group 10 1st Finlayson; 2nd Grant Sturkey - ENG (MO Ford Escort MkII); 3rd Graham Manning (M0 Ford Escort MkII)
Group 11 1st Pointinger; 2nd Antero Miikkulainen - FIN (Hist Alfa Romeo GTV); 3rd Graham Samuel - ENG (Hist Porsche 911); 4th Michel Smeets - HOL (Hist Opel Ascona A)
Group 12 1st Keatley; 2nd Drexel Gillespie - NIR (Hist Lotus Cortina MkII); 3rd Bryan Gill - ENG (Hist Opel Kadett GT/E); 4th Wayne Manning (Hist Ford Escort)
Group 13 1st Gale; 2nd Mikie Hassell (P4 Subaru Impreza STI); 3rd Harold Morley - ENG (P4 Subaru Impreza STI); 4th Tom Preston - ENG (P4 Subaru Impreza WRX)
Group 14 1st Pankhurst; 2nd Martin Stockdale - ENG (GpB BMW M3 GTR); 3rd Andrew Hurley - ENG (GpB Ford Puma Evo)
Group 15 1st Manning; 2nd Kevin Procter - ENG (M8 Ford Sapphire Cosworth); 3rd Peter Morris - TDAD (M8 Mitsubishi Evo VI); 4th Willi Polesznig - AUT (M8 Mitsubishi Evo V1)

• Barbados Rally - 7-8 Jun 03