rally.ie - Stories - Rally Barbados

INCREASED TV COVERAGE FOR SOL RALLY BARBADOS

Posted: August 5, 2008 2:57 PM

Motor sport fans across Europe have been enjoying the widest-ever coverage of the Caribbean's biggest annual motor sport event, with more than 10 hours of programming on terrestrial and satellite television channels covering Sol Rally Barbados 2008 . . . and there's more to come later in the year.

The first victory for a European crew since 1996 - Northern Ireland's Kris Meeke and Paul Nagle - has helped drive the increased coverage, while the ever-more competitive nature of the event and the quality of entry it now attracts have made it increasingly newsworthy; those same factors are also encouraging more European competitors and spectators to target Sol Rally Barbados as a 'must- do' event.

The first television coverage was broadcast at the end of June, appropriately in Northern Ireland, a half-hour report produced by Rally Barbados regular Alan 'Plum' Tyndall's company, RPM Productions. The programme was shown twice on Ulster TV, reaching an average audience of 160,000, and on Setanta Sports in the Republic of Ireland, attracting a further 50,000 viewers; in addition, it is being aired five times on Motors TV, which is broadcast in four languages and to 32 nations.

Since his first trip to the island in 1993, when Northern Ireland's Kenny McKinstry claimed the first of his two victories on the Barbados Rally Club's premier event, Tyndall has been a frequent visitor. He says: "Its like a school re-union every year! Sol Rally Barbados is the most fun event that we cover - the atmosphere is electric, the hospitality from the Bajans second to none, and many Irish and European events could learn a lot from the promotion of the event. The talent among the local drivers is outstanding, as the results show over the years."

The event has also been covered annually since 2001 on Sky Sports, included in the popular weekly programme World Motorsports. This year's win by Meeke and Nagle, however, persuaded producer Caroline Samuels of Pit Lane Productions to move the 2008 coverage into the company's sister programme, Rally Fever, which has a significant following in Britain, as it covers every round of that country's Pirelli MSA Gravel Rally Championship.

Samuels said: "The first European win since 1996 made the event much more newsworthy, so Rally Fever seemed the obvious place for our report; it also meant we could schedule our coverage many weeks earlier than in previous years. And there's an ideal link, too, as our regular Rally Fever viewers will see many familiar faces from our National rallying coverage, such as those great rivals Paul Bird and Steve Perez, also Ryan Champion, who has recently started to work with us as a presenter."

The first airing of the Rally Fever coverage was last night (Tuesday, July 22) in an evening prime-time slot, with five repeats scheduled during the week; Sky Sports channels enjoy a viewership of more than four million across Europe.

Later in the year, a 90-minute programme produced by Acceleration TV's David Winstanley will be broadcast on Men & Motors and Motors TV, among other stations in Europe. Winstanley, who last visited Barbados in 2003, found his enthusiasm for island motor sport undiminished: "The thing that makes Sol Rally Barbados special is that it is a great mixture of serious rallying and fun. Many of the drivers are there to do well, but the majority are there to entertain; that is something that's often forgotten in motor sport nowadays . . . that it is a sport, and that sport is meant to be entertainment.

"What we're looking for in our programme is to bring out the entertainment side of Sol Rally Barbados and, to that end, there may well be more shots of Andrew Jones than there are of the winner Kris Meeke! We also have some really nice features away from motor sport, which show the friendliness of the people all round the island."

Barbados Rally Club PRO Neil Barnard noted: "With the introduction of Sol, our title sponsor, we have seen the event take a quantum leap. The rally is no longer simply an important local motor sport event, but is now an event, motor sport or otherwise, of national significance, and recognised by the Government of Barbados as such. We are therefore looking forward to further growing the event both nationally and internationally."

Sol Rally Barbados and Shell V-Power King of the Hill were elements of the eighth Barbados Rally Carnival. The title sponsor was Sol and associate sponsors and marketing partners were McEnearney Quality, Simpson Motors, Automotive Art, Banks Holdings, DaCosta Mannings Auto Centre, Digicel, Preconco, Nassco, Consolidated Finance, Virgin Atlantic Airways, Crane & Equipments, Little Switzerland, Armag, the Barbados Hotel & Tourism Association and the Barbados Tourism Authority.

BIRD FLIES TO BARBADOS PODIUM ON FAREWELL

Posted: June 2, 2008 1:08 PM

On his final event in a rally car, VK Vent Axia rally driver Paul Bird bowed out in style with a superb runner up position on this weekend's SOL Rally Barbados.

Driving the Subaru WRC, the Penrith driver had enlisted his 2005 ANCRO Championship winning co-driver Ian Windress for the two-day event and after a cautious start, the pair were soon inside the top ten on the opening day, ending up third overall behind Kris Meeke (Toyota WRC) and Gary Gregg (Ford Focus WRC), despite losing the spotlights on the latter stages.

With typical style, Bird - who was keeping one eye on his World Superbike team's exploits in the USA at the same time - continued his charge and after setting an unprecedented fastest time on the Kendal South stage (SS15), he set about reeling Ulsterman Meeke in.

Nearly a minute adrift at the final service, Bird ended up less than thirty seconds behind the eventual winners after the twenty-two stages around the Caribbean island and declared at the finish that he'd thoroughly enjoyed himself:
"What a fantastic event and a great result for us, I'm delighted to have finished second behind a world class driver such as Kris Meeke but I'm even more thrilled that I beat my old mate Steve Perez, especially seeing as though I used his old tyres! We got some serious air over the jump on the Superspecial and I could hear the crowd cheering, it was superb. The only downer is I forgot to take my phone out of my pocket when I went swimming in the sea earlier in the week but despite that, the champagne will taste even better tonight, seeing as though Steve is buying yet again!"

PEREZ JUST MISSES PODIUM IN BARBADOS - AGAIN!

Posted: June 2, 2008 1:07 PM

Despite a heroic drive, Kick Energy rally driver Steve Perez just missed out on the podium for the third time in as many years when he had to settle for fourth place on this weekend's SOL Rally Barbados.

Driving the Ford Focus WRC, the Chesterfield driver along with Welshman Howard Davies on the maps, got off to a steady start by posting ninth fastest time on the opening Canefield North stage but by SS5, the pair had climbed to fifth overall on the opening morning.

A gallant charge up the leaderboard saw them climb as high as third during the afternoon but at the overnight halt, the pair held fourth place amidst a titanic tussle with friend and rival Paul Bird (Subaru).

Sunday saw Perez attack but despite a string of fast times on the final loop of stages, he couldn't improve and as a result, he had to settle for his third, fourth placing on the event.

"I have to say I'm disappointed, especially having to concede a podium to Birdy, seeing as though I've helped him no end over here. It all started when he tried to wipe me out on the recce, crashing into the back of me and re-injuring my neck, and then I had to bale him out as he'd not brought enough tyres with him so he ended up using some of mine. But seriously, I'm happy enough with the result, we'll just have to come back next year and by-pass the podium, I'm going all out to win here!"

Kris Meeke finishes rally with only 2WD!

Posted: June 2, 2008 11:27 AM

Kris Meeke's Blog

Results

Posted: June 2, 2008 11:26 AM

1 K Meeke/P Nagle (Toyota Corolla WRC) - 0:57:02.56
2 P Bird/ I Windress (Subaru Impreza WRC) - 0:57:23.83
3 G Gregg/H Hutchinson (Ford Focus WRC) - 0:57:41.01
4 S Perez/H Davies (Ford Focus WRC) - 0:58:11.23
5 S Gill/MCummins (Suzuki Swift) - 0:58:38.43
6 T Manning/D Edwards (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 8) - 0:58:49.17
7 R Hill/J Gittens (Toyota Celica GT-Four) - 0:59:21.99
8 R Champion/C Thorley (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 8) 0:59:59.97
9 G Noel/K Yearwood (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 9) 1:00:11.07
10 J Still/H Hazell (BMW) - 1:00:56.39

Rally Barbados

Kris Meeke's Blogspot -

Posted: May 31, 2008 1:13 AM

Kris Meeke's Blog

"It's getting tough out here lads…"

Two and Four Wheel American Adventure For Paul Bird Motorsport

Posted: May 30, 2008 8:48 AM

In a unique scenario, the Paul Bird Motorsport Team will be competing on both two wheels and four this weekend, in entirely different disciplines, having made the trip over the Atlantic to the United States and Caribbean respectively.

Round six of the Hannspree World Superbike Championship takes place at the Miller Motorsports Park near Salt Lake City in Utah with rider Gregorio Lavilla looking to continue his consistency aboard the VK and Vent Axia-backed Honda Fireblade, whereas team owner Paul Bird is hoping to end his car rallying career in style by fulfilling a lifelong ambition by competing in the prestigious SOL Rally Barbados in his Subaru Impreza WRC.

Remarkably, 34 year old Spanish rider Lavilla is the only rider to have scored in every race of the championship so far, with a best result of two seventh places despite having to relearn many of the circuits, get reacquainted with a four cylinder bike and get used to brand new Pirelli tyres. As a result, the former British Superbike Champion lies in tenth position in the title chase and is hoping that lack of knowledge on his rivals' part may benefit him.

Penrith, Cumbria driver Bird, meanwhile, will renew his fierce rivalry with friend and sponsor Steve Perez as the former National Rally Champions go head to head around the tight tarmac roads of the Caribbean island. Whenever the pair compete together, there are usually no holds barred and despite Perez's experience on the event, Bird is confident he can give him a run for his money.

Gregorio Lavilla:
"I am feeling confident and I am looking forward to the races. For everyone else, this will all be new but for us, everywhere is new so perhaps we will start on an equal footing for once. We are continuing to work on the bike to be more competitive as we need to be challenging further up the leaderboard and I hope that we will get some good results this weekend. I hope Paul does well in his rally car too as that would be a great weekend for the team if we both score good results."

Paul Bird:
"I've never been able to compete on Rally Barbados, mainly because it always clashed with our TT commitments but I promised myself I'd do it before I retired and here I am. It's been a long-term ambition of mine and I'm relishing the opportunity of giving Steve a driving lesson round the island. I've roped my championship winning co-driver Ian Windress in for the weekend and put it like this, I'm not expecting being the one to buy the drinks on Sunday night! This is my final rally and after this I'm retiring so I aim to go out in style!"

BOURNE IS SHELL V-POWER KING OF THE HILL (Meeke finishes 2nd in Hillclimb ahead of main rally)

Posted: May 26, 2008 4:06 PM

After an exhilarating day of intense competition, Paul Bourne was crowned Shell V-Power King of the Hill on Saturday (May 24), beating former Junior World Rally Championship contender Kris Meeke by less than one-quarter of a second, as the Barbados Rally Club (BRC) returned to a venue popular since the 1960s.

Thousands of fans occupied every vantage point at Turner's Hall in St Andrew, but the hot spot was at the bottom of the hill. There, spectators not only saw competitors tackle the first two corners, but also enjoyed live coverage of almost the entire two-kilometre course, broadcast on the Giant Daylight Screen, thanks to sponsorship from Banks, McEnearney Quality, Simpson Motors and Sol and slick camerawork from Merville Lynch Productions.

After the practice run, Sean Gill gave Prime Minister David Thompson a taste of the action, with a run up the hill in the co- driver's seat of his Suzuki Swift. When he returned to the VIP enclosure, where he remained to watch the first official run, the Prime Minister likened the experience to "a roller-coaster ride at Disney World."

With his Banks/Texaco/B-Mobile/Pirelli/New-Tech Subaru Impreza WRC S9 in its new livery - it is now predominantly black - Bourne was quickest on the practice run, establishing a marker of 1m 16.76s. Driving the Digicel/Nassco/Pirelli/Red Bull/Consolidated Finance/ Armag/Crane & Equipments Toyota Corolla WRC in competition for the first time, Meeke trailed him by just three-tenths, with Roger Skeete (Michelin/FB Batteries Ford Escort WRC) also within fractions of a second - hot competition would clearly be the order of the day.

Others looking strong early on included Gill, who recorded the second fastest time in the first official run (1m 16.99s, compared with Meeke's 1m 15.37s), while a broken driveshaft left Bourne with some work to do. Third on that run was Jamaica's Gary Gregg (BD Gregg & Bros Ltd/NG Racing/Monster Energy/McEnearney Quality Inc Ford Focus WRC) on 1m 17.44s, ahead of Skeete (1m 18.18s) and Roger Hill, who looked in determined form as he hustled the Mobil 1/Nassco/MotorMac Toyota Celica GT4 up the hill in 1m 19.09s.

Bourne fought back in the second official run with a time of 1m 13.02s, which would prove his best of the day. Meeke found another second (1m 14.15s), Skeete improved by more than two (1m 15.99s), while England's Kevin Procter (Procter's Coaches Subaru Impreza WRC S7) carved nearly five off his time, to better Skeete with 1m 15.74s.

Although Meeke improved again on his final run (1m 13.25s), Bourne's existing time was enough for victory - just - while Procter, Skeete and Gregg's second-run times placed them third through fifth; Gill finished sixth, a master of consistency (1m 16.99s, 1m 16.86, 1m 16.51s), while Hill's final run (1m 18.86s) was good enough for seventh.

Sixty drivers saw action, although not all contested every run, incuding Steve Perez who was airlifted by helicopter from Grantley Adams International Airport directly after his flight from the UK landed; Perez clocked 1m 19.14s in the VK Energy Drink Ford Focus WRC on his last run to place eighth, with Geoff Noel (Globe Finance/Ezone/ DeWalt/Automotive Art/Sunbeach Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX) and Trinidad's Ainsley Lochan (Josefs Sports Bars/NP Ultra/Stag/Oakley/ Raycool/Fast Parts Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX) completing the top 10.

The closest Group competition came in SuperModified 11, which bodes well for Sol Rally Barbados next weekend - having been quickest in practice (1m 23.08), Nick Gill (Mazda 3) dropped to fourth on the first run, behind the BMWs of early leader Sammy Cumberbatch (1m 21.65s), England's Martin Stockdale (1m 22.31s) and Jonathan Still (1m 23.01s). Gill fought back on run two (1m 20.43s) and, although Cumberbatch improved as well (1m 20.76s), Gill's time gave him the win by three-tenths, all four covered by less than two seconds.

Former World Rally Champion Bjorn Waldegard won the historic class, the engine note of the Simpson Motors-supported Porsche 911 delighting the crowd, as he set times just outside the top 20 throughout the day. Another notable performance came from S9 Group winner, Jamaica's Tarik Minott, whose first-run time of 1m 21.04s in the ex-Sean Gill Suzuki Ignis JWRC was good enough for eighth overall, although he was to lose that top 10 spot by the end of the day.

Sol Rally Barbados and Shell V-Power King of the Hill are elements of the eighth Barbados Rally Carnival. Each day of Sol Rally Barbados, organised by the Barbados Rally Club, is a separate qualifying round of the BRC Rally Championship. The title sponsor is Sol and associate sponsors and marketing partners are McEnearney Quality, Simpson Motors, Automotive Art, Banks Holdings, DaCosta Mannings Auto Centre, Digicel, Nassco, Consolidated Finance, Virgin Atlantic Airways, Crane & Equipments, Little Switzerland, Armag, the Barbados Hotel & Tourism Association and the Barbados Tourism Authority.

More Details:
Event Website:

Rally Barbados

Greater support for marshals, thanks to Sol and the Barbados Rally Club

Posted: May 19, 2008 9:36 PM

The willingness of volunteers to give freely of their time and energies in support of Sol Rally Barbados 2008 was recognised on Thursday evening (May 15) during the final Marshals Briefing in advance of this year's event, as samples of the equipment that will be distributed to all marshals over rally weekend were handed over to the Stage Commanders. Working together, the sponsors and the organising Club have sourced both safety items - safety scissors, clearly-marked bright shirts and tabards and whistles - and equipment to made the two long days in the hot sun more comfortable to bear, including coolers, caps and umbrellas. In addition, the Club has invested in 12 tents, which will be stationed at stage starts and finishes, to protect not only the marshals and timing crews, but also their valuable equipment. Come rally weekend, the marshals will also receive a number of products from event marketing partner B&B Distribution to keep them cool and refreshed. Sol's Group Marketing and Communications Manager Aymara Cummins said: "The marshals and other volunteers are the backbone of any big motor sport event like this. Sol is very pleased to be able to make a direct contribution to providing for them in ways that will help them work more efficiently and in greater safety but, just as important, in more comfort." BRC Chairman Mark Hamilton added: "Our marshals who work the all- day stages will be at their posts for anything up to 12 hours, so it is only right that we should do our best to provide for them. The long-term commitment from Sol has given the Club a chance to invest in some capital equipment, which we can build on in years to come."z Sol Rally Barbados and Shell V-Power King of the Hill are elements of the eighth Barbados Rally Carnival. Each day of Sol Rally Barbados, organised by the Barbados Rally Club, is a separate qualifying round of the BRC Rally Championship. The title sponsor is Sol and associate sponsors and marketing partners are McEnearney Quality, Simpson Motors, Automotive Art, Banks Holdings, DaCosta Mannings Auto Centre, Digicel, Nassco, Consolidated Finance, Virgin Atlantic Airways, Crane & Equipments, Little Switzerland, Armag, the Barbados Hotel & Tourism Association and the Barbados Tourism Authority.

Event Wesbite:

Rally Barbados

STUDENTS HEAD FOR HISTORIC ENCOUNTER

Posted: May 19, 2008 9:33 PM

Eight students from the Oxford Universities Motorsport Foundation (OUMF) are heading across the Atlantic on Tuesday (May 20) on a Virgin Atlantic Airways Boeing 747 to face the challenge of a lifetime - they will compete in Sol Rally Barbados 2008 (May 31/June 1), the region's biggest annual international motor sport event. Their 1965 Riley 1.5, which has already arrived in the island on a Geest Line freighter, is entered in the two-day event's historic class, in which the opposition includes 1979 World Rally Champion, Sweden's Bjorn Waldegard, and experienced local co-driver Michael Carrington in a Porsche 911. On seeing the entry list, the enthusiastic OUMF founder and Riley driver Ding Boston said: "I just love the historic entry list! We'll have to frame it." The third car in the Group is a 1964 Austin Mini Cooper S, driven by Englishman Steve Wood, with local co-driver Leslie Evanson.

The OUMF trip was initiated by respected British freelance journalist Martin Sharp, who has been following motor sport in Barbados for nearly 20 years; he will again be among the European media corps arriving Wednesday, having spent just one night at home on his return from last weekend's latest round of the World Rally Championship in Sardinia.

Sharp says: "I've met Ding at classic events in England, and what he's doing without any direct university or government funding is remarkable - I admire him for it. My early days were spent on lathes and milling machines in the Ford Apprentice School workshops - all that stuff gave me a great grounding on what's likely to work, and what obviously won't work, and it has stayed with me.

"I realised that, for a few of his students to see what the incredibly-resourceful guys in Barbados can do with metal, machinery and tools, would be worth so much more to them than theoretical training. I'm just glad we've been able to pull it off, thanks to Greg Cozier, Barbados Rally Carnival and the Barbados Rally Club."

OUMF is an independent, student-run initiative, providing the encouragement and facility for 'hands-on' engineering experience, something almost completely lacking at either of the city's two universities. The students have restored the Riley at their own expense, and gained many practical skills in the process.

Boston, a mature Oxford Brookes electrical engineering student, will have second-year automotive engineering student Jon Puliston (Winchester) as co-driver; the service crew will comprise Lars Brisendal (Norway), Leo Brough (Swindon), Russell Cahill Smith (London), Tom Dawson (Scotland), Joe Duffy (Dubai) and the team's sole female crew member, Hannah Byrd from Guildford.

Boston said: "Industry recognises OUMF as one of the few facilities where top undergraduates can bolster their theoretical learning by gaining practical 'hands-on' engineering skills. The opportunity to go to Barbados is the most exciting we have been offered, and I believe will help secure the future of the Foundation - most important, though, it will provide on-going practical training for members of OUMF."

The Riley was found on e-Bay in 2004 - an abandoned wreck in a Scottish field - and rebuilt as a practical student project in a cowshed in Oxford. Since then, it has had five rally outings, but Sol Rally Barbados will be its greatest test . . . not to mention the small matter of taking Ding Boston on former World Rally Champion Waldegard!

WEDDING BELLS FOR BRITISH RALLY TEAM

Posted: May 19, 2008 9:32 PM

Runner-up in the British Rally Championship in 2006, and one of the UK's leading contenders in Sol Rally Barbados 2008 (May 31/June 1), Ryan Champion, will have more than just rallying to think about when he arrives in the Caribbean island - he's agreed to officiate at the 10th 'rally wedding' since the inaugural Barbados Rally Carnival in 2001.

Cheryl Bell and Barry Spencer, from Portchester in Hampshire on England's south coast, are getting married at The Boatyard, a beach bar in the island's capital Bridgetown, just two days before they join the 88 other crews competing in the region's biggest annual international motor sport event. They enjoyed a holiday in Barbados last year, coinciding with Rally Barbados - as Cheryl explains: "We met a lot of very friendly people and when someone suggested we come back and enter the rally ourselves, Barry and I just looked at one another, and instantly decided that's exactly what we'd do."

Despite having no previous competition experience, the determined couple bought a rally car and set about learning the ropes; driver Cheryl and co-driver Barry went through a course of instruction with Paul Alexander at the famous Bill Gwynne Rally School. Since then, they have entered a couple of events in Britain to gain some experience, and are looking forward to their 'big day' . . . well, both of their 'big days'.

Cheryl added: "Barry and I met on the internet about four-and-a- half years ago, chatted for a time, then met in June 2006. Here we are two years on, entering Rally Barbados and getting married there.

It's a dream come true . . . unfortunately, my parents can't be with us, and to have Ryan agree to give me away is just the icing on the cake."

The couple have gathered support fom a number of businesses local to them in the UK. Cheryl said: "In particular, we must thank Scott McNicol of Eden Vauxhall Fareham for all his interest and financial support towards this event, and Paul Alexander and the guys for their hard work and patience, getting us through our training and car shakedown." They are also backed by the Old Castle B & B in Wales, AWS Racewear, Eberhardt Signs from Portsmouth and ABS Embroidery.

Their 2-litre Vauxhall Astra GSi places them in the Modified 7 category, where they will be in good company, competing against two other married couples! Twice Barbados Rally Club Driver's Champion Adrian Linton has wife Jackie as co-driver in their similar Ravensden- sponsored Astra GSi, while Ron and Giselle Layne will also be in action in the SDRR Nissan Sunny.

Although not in the same Group, the fourth husband and wife on the entry list were married shortly after Rally Barbados 2007 - regular visitor from Ireland, Martin Taylor, has had to change the co-driver name stickers on his Production 2 Dublin Crystal Proton Satria from Janet Brown to Janet Taylor!

Family has always played a major role in island rallying. This year's entry also includes three father and son crews - Brett and father Garry Clarke (M8-WRC Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VI), St Vincent's Steve Ollivierre and son Dominic (Group N Evo VIII) and St Elmo and Owen Cumberbatch (BMW E36), while Owen's brother Sammy will be driving his own BMW M3. Talking of brothers, Rhett and Logan Watson are entered in the family Ford Escort MkI and Jason and Mario Clermont in a BMW M3, while the Yearwood brothers are both co- drivers, Kreigg for Geoff Noel (Evo IX) and Kristian for David Williams (Toyota Starlet).
Freddie Gale (Toyota RunX) and son Barry (Evo VI) are not only competing, but have connections throughout the 18-year history of the event as organisers, Freddie a former BRC Competitions Secretary and Barry the present Rally Chairman. Freddie's opposition in M7 includes John Corbin (Toyota Corolla), whose son Edwards competes in M6 in a Daihatsu Charmant. Of course, if you start taking into account cousins or those related by marriage, then even more competitors would be listed.

NEW CHALLENGES IN SOL RALLY BARBADOS 2008

Posted: May 15, 2008 1:30 PM

The 89 crews entered for Sol Rally Barbados, the region's biggest annual international motor sport event, will face some new challenges in 2008, following the organising Barbados Rally Club's (BRC) decision to rethink some elements of its blue riband event, which runs off over the weekend of May 31/June 1.

While the total number of special stages remains the same at 24, there have been some significant changes to the event's structure, placing greater emphasis on the pace and reliability necessary to see the rally through to the finish - Saturday's stage distance has been cut by by around seven per cent, while's Sunday is increased by nearly one-fifth, making for an overall increase over two days of around five per cent. There have also been changes to service, which will now be allowed off-route during each leg.

Rally chairman Barry Gale explains: "We hope that the changes will provide benefits across the board - while new overseas crews join the entry each year, there is a core of regular competitors, some of whom have been coming for as many as eight years. It is vital that we keep Sol Rally Barbados fresh, to attract them back year on year.

"From a spectator point of view, it was important to retain the traditionally popular viewing spots - Canefield, Kendal and Malvern, for instance - while we also revisit the route each year in light of the potential inconvenience to residents, so the challenge is to balance all those considerations.

"The answer was two-fold: we have modified the start and finish point of some stages, which will reduce disruption to residents; this is particularly the case for Kendal, where the southern end has been moved significantly, opening up a major route into St John, which had less easy to access in recent years.

"In addition, there is now only one stage that will run throughout each day - Canefield on Saturday and Kendal on Sunday; by using separate locations for the other morning and afternoon stages, we have also cut back on our road closure applications.

"The other benefit for spectators will be quick-fire action as the gap between stages is reduced - at Canefield on Saturday morning, for instance, there should be little more than 25 minutes between the end of stage 1 and the start of stage 3."

From the 9.30am Saturday Start at Simpson Motors, leg one will comprise three runs northbound through the popular 5.9-kilometre Automotive Art Canefield stage and three through Dark Hole (4.4kms).
First car is due for the lunchtime service halt at Simpson Motors at just after 1.00pm, then leaves 90 minutes later. In the afternoon, there will be three runs through Sailor Gully (4.8kms), while Canefield will run southbound, the last stage scheduled for a 6.30pm start.

On Sunday, the remaining cars will restart from Bushy Park at 7.30am, re-seeded in the order of overnight classification. The morning stages will be three runs southbound through Da Costa Mannings Auto Centre Kendal - at 7.1kms, the event's longest stage - and three through Stewarts Hill (4.4kms). First car is due in to Bushy Park for the lunchtime service halt at 11.15am, then back out 90 minutes later. In the afternoon, three northbound runs through Kendal (reduced to 6.3kms) and three through Digicel Malvern (5.3kms) will be followed by the Shell V-Power SuperSpecial at Bushy Park, slated to start shortly after 4.00pm.

'Zero' tolerance for a smoothly-run rally

Last month's Automotive Art Shakedown Stages, run over two of the most popular venues to be used in Sol Rally Barbados- Kendal and Malvern - enabled the BRC to fine-tune its organisation in advance of the main event; despite a 15-minute delay at the start of the day, the rally was running right on time by early afternoon.

This was achieved through tight management by the Clerk of the Course and Stage Commanders, assisted by the good behaviour and co- operation of spectators. Rally Chairman Barry Gale emphasises the importance of spectators paying heed to what is going on around them: "The most important thing for spectators to do is obey the instructions of our marshals, security personnel and other officials.

"Before the first competition car comes through each stage, there will be at least three other marked vehicles on the course. In the 000 (Triple Zero) vehicle, our Chief Marshal will ensure that all personnel, their equipment, and medical and rescue vehicles are in place; the Safety Officer will then pass through in the 00 (Double Zero) vehicle to ensure that spectators are in designated areas - if they are not, and there is any unwillingness to heed his instructions, then the stage will be delayed or even cancelled.

"Finally, around five minutes before 'first car', the 0 (Zero) Car will pass through at close-to-competition speed, as a final alert to officials and spectators alike that the stage is live. Spectators should then not move on to the stage until the Course Closing Car has passed through."

Sol Rally Barbados and Shell V-Power King of the Hill are elements of the eighth Barbados Rally Carnival. Each day of Sol Rally Barbados, organised by the Barbados Rally Club, is a separate qualifying round of the BRC Rally Championship. The title sponsor is Sol and associate sponsors and marketing partners are McEnearney Quality, Simpson Motors, Automotive Art, Banks Holdings, DaCosta Mannings Auto Centre, Digicel, Nassco, Consolidated Finance, Virgin Atlantic Airways, Crane & Equipments, Little Switzerland, Armag, the Barbados Hotel & Tourism Association and the Barbados Tourism Authority.

Programme of key events

Rally Barbados

FOUR-WHEEL-DRIVE INVASION

Posted: May 10, 2008 12:40 PM

An influx of four-wheel-drive cars from Britain promises to make Sol Rally Barbados 2008 on May 31/June 1 one of the most competitive in the 18-year history of the Barbados Rally Club's (BRC) premier event. With the provisional entry list scheduled for publication on Monday, May 12, the Club has already intimated that approaching one-third of the near-capacity entry will run in the top Groups.

Following confirmation mid-week that former National Champions Paul Bird (Subaru Impreza WRC) and Rally Barbados regular Steve Perez (Ford Focus WRC) are entered in the Modified 8-WRC group comes news that the Geest Line Freighter Timor Stream, which left Portsmouth on England's south coast 10 days ago for the Caribbean, will be carrying significantly more four-wheel-drive cars.

For his sixth visit to Rally Barbados, England's Kevin Procter will be bringing his sixth different car! Having been competitive in Ford Sapphire, Escort WRC and Puma in his early years, he looked set for his best result to date in 2006 when he was forced to retire his ex-Prodrive Subaru Impreza while lying fourth. Last year, driving a Hyundai Accent WRC, he battled with Perez to claim highest-placed European honours, but lost out, finishing fifth. He returns with a Procters Coaches-backed Impreza WRC S7, with Dave Bellerby - popular last year for his committed driving in the Sapphire - as co-driver.

Procter isn't the only British driver to find competing in Barbados infectious - Modified 8-A will include two others coming back for more. Scotland's Graeme Finlayson is a keen supporter of rallying in the island and returns with an ex-Ralliart Group A www.racedandrallied.com Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 3 RS, replacing his Group N car from last year. Once again, he will have local ace Martin Atwell as co-driver.

While Finlayson has competed every year since 2003, Tom Roberts has done so only twice, but returns with a quick Group A Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VI; the former BP Young Driver of the Year and University karting champion's co-driver is someone whose surname will be familiar to older fans of motor sport in the island: Jimmy Brodie, whose motor sport experience in the UK has been in circuit racing rather than rallying, is the son of Dave Brodie, one of the first British drivers to race at Bushy Park in the 1970s.

Group N has also attracted some key figures from British rallying, led by former Peugeot Junior and Ford Puma champion, then Mitsubishi Ralliart Evolution Cup winner in 2005, Ryan Champion. Another returning competitor - he drove an Evo III in the inaugural Barbados Rally Carnival in 2001 - the 2006 British Rally Championship runner- up will this year campaign an Evo VIII, backed by Barbados brands Monster Energy, Sol and Axis Caribbean, plus the family specialist cars business Champions. His co-driver will be the experienced Craig Thorley - he was fifth and highest-placed overseas competitor here with Chris Mellors in 2001 - who should feel entirely comfortable in the seat, as he was co-driver for Alister Ginley, for whom this Evo was originally built.

Champion's Evo is prepared by MSR Motorsport, which will also be responsible for running David Hughes and Bruce Harper in the www.pinedirectonline.co.uk Evo VI; class-winner in the Scottish Rally Championship in 2007 and winner of the Pirelli National Rally in 2006 and '07, this will be the Dumfries-based driver's first experience of competition in Barbados, but he is sure to add interest to the Group.

Finally, there is Rob Swann, who has finished in the top five in the British Rally Championship for three of the past five years; Darren Garrod will co-drive in the Prodrive-built and Geoff Jones Motorsport-prepared Subari Impreza N11, supported for the Barbados trip by local businesses Escape Hotels, Blue Monkey, West Coast Villas anda CGI Insurance. They will have little time to acclimatise themselves to Caribbean rallying, as they will miss the Shell V-Power King of the Hill the previous weekend because they will be competing in the Jim Clark Rally in Scotland in the team's Impreza N14; even so, that may benefit them, as it is one of the most demanding closed- road tarmac rallies in Britain.

Sol Rally Barbados and Shell V-Power King of the Hill are elements of the eighth Barbados Rally Carnival. Each day of Sol Rally Barbados, organised by the Barbados Rally Club, is a separate qualifying round of the BRC Rally Championship. The title sponsor is Sol and associate sponsors and marketing partners are McEnearney Quality, Simpson Motors, Automotive Art, Banks Holdings, DaCosta Mannings Auto Centre, Digicel, Nassco, Consolidated Finance, Virgin Atlantic Airways, Crane & Equipments, Little Switzerland, Armag, the Barbados Hotel & Tourism Association and the Barbados Tourism Authority.

Kris Meeke, Paul Bird, Steve Perez Entered

Posted: May 9, 2008 12:00 PM

An intense, though friendly, rivalry that has enhanced many a round of Britain's National Rally Championship since 2004 is about to be revived, when former National Champions Steve Perez and Paul Bird face off against one another - and the rest of the record-breaking Modified 8-WRC class - in Sol Rally Barbados 2008 (May 31/June 1).

Close friends out of the driving seat, everything changes once they get behind the wheel: beating the other becomes as important as the overall result . . . and the loser will find himself faced with a sizeable bar bill at the post-rally celebrations! They have not competed against one another since last year: Perez only recently returned to action, four months after being airlifted to hospital with injuries sustained during last November's East African Safari Classic, while Bird has been concentrating on developing his new World Superbike team.

Perez will be contesting Rally Barbados for the fourth time, but it will be Bird's first attempt, although he has enjoyed holidays in the island in the past. Perez will drive the ex-Markko Martin Ford Focus World Rally Car in which he has finished fourth for the past two years, with former British Champion co-driver Howard Davies returning for a second visit. Bird will campaign the Subaru Impreza WRC in which he finished second in the popular Malcolm Wilson Rally in northern England in March, an event he has won three times in the recent past; alongside him will be Ian Windress, his co-driver when he won the National Championship in 2005 (the year after Perez) in a Stobart-backed ex-works Ford Focus WRC, supplied by near-neighbour Malcolm Wilson of M-Sport.

Before he tried his hand at rallying, Bird had enjoyed considerable success on two wheels; having first raced in motocross at the age of 12, he had won more than 10 Championships by the age of 30 - among them a hat-trick of Irish Supermoto titles - and raced on the World Motocross GP circuit.

More recently, his success has come as a team owner in the British Superbike Championship (BSB), which his Monstermob Ducati outfit won in 2002 and 2003 with the late Steve Hislop and Shane Byrne; after a couple of disappointing seasons in Britain, Bird is now running 2005 BSB champion Gregorio Lavilla in the World Superbike Championship on the latest-spec Honda Fireblade, sponsored by Vent Axia and VK, one of the best-known trade names from Perez's company Global Brands.

For Perez, whose National Championship success came the year after he had won the British Historic Rally Championship in a Porsche 911, there is still unfinished business in Barbados. He looked set for his first podium finish last year, until a dramatic and costly spin at Kendal on the Sunday, although fourth place still netted him the award for highest-placed European crew.

Fully recovered from his Safari injuries, he returned to rallying in March, winning his comeback event, the North Humberside Forest Rally, for the second year in a row. Since his first visit in 2004, when he retired in his ex-Hannu Mikkola Audi Quattro Sport, Perez has been an enthusiastic supporter of the Barbados Rally Club's premier event, and he has been instrumental in the participation in this year's Sol Rally Barbados of 1979 World Champion Bjorn Waldegard, who will drive a Porsche 911 from the Perez stable.

While he will certainly enjoy seeing his car put through its paces by one of the most respected names in the business, the competition in Modified 8-WRC will put him through his own paces!

Already confirmed is former Junior WRC front-runner Kris Meeke, who will campaign the Toyota Corolla WRC in which Trinidad-based Jamaican John Powell finished second last year and, as entries closed last Friday, a record-breaking number of M8-WRC cars were listed.

At the start of the week, Sol Rally Barbados Chairman Barry Gale said: "We are currently working through the final checks on each entry; we extended our deadline to Wednesday (May 7) for each form to be signed by both driver and co-driver, and all details completed, and made it clear that any incomplete or unpaid entries will be considered as stand-by entries, and will only be eligible, on completion of the form, provided that there is space remaining.
I have received 84 entries, and it is highly likely that we will be fully subscribed for the first time since 2003.
"As things stand, we have more than 10 cars listed for M8-WRC, and nearly one-third of the entry looks set to be four-wheel-drive cars.
Anyone in those classes - including me - is going to have his work cut out come rally weekend."

The provisional entry list will be published on Monday (May 12).

Programme of key events

Event Website:

Rally Barbados

Rally Barbados - 31 May-1 Jun 08

INCREASED TV COVERAGE FOR SOL RALLY BARBADOS

BIRD FLIES TO BARBADOS PODIUM ON FAREWELL

PEREZ JUST MISSES PODIUM IN BARBADOS - AGAIN!

Kris Meeke finishes rally with only 2WD!

Results

Kris Meeke's Blogspot -

Two and Four Wheel American Adventure For Paul Bird Motorsport

BOURNE IS SHELL V-POWER KING OF THE HILL (Meeke finishes 2nd in Hillclimb ahead of main rally)

Greater support for marshals, thanks to Sol and the Barbados Rally Club

STUDENTS HEAD FOR HISTORIC ENCOUNTER

WEDDING BELLS FOR BRITISH RALLY TEAM

NEW CHALLENGES IN SOL RALLY BARBADOS 2008

FOUR-WHEEL-DRIVE INVASION

Kris Meeke, Paul Bird, Steve Perez Entered

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