QUALITY IN DEPTH FOR SOL RALLY BARBADOS 2014 Powell brings entry in WRC classes to a record 14 The Barbados Rally Club (BRC) will celebrate the 25th running of its premier event in fine style, with the largest field of World Rally Cars ever assembled in the Caribbean. The provisional entry list of 93 crews for Sol Rally Barbados 2014 (May 30-June 1) was confirmed today (Thursday) during a media briefing at the Accra Beach Hotel & Spa in Rockley, on the island’s south coast. A record 14 cars are entered in the WRC classes, all but three of them former works entries, with multiple Trinidad Rally Champion John Powell’s entry confirmed today; he faces previous winners Roger Skeete and Paul Bourne of Barbados, Jamaica’s Jeff Panton and former UK National Rally Champion Paul Bird - he has won for the past two years - in the strongest field yet seen for the region’s biggest annual motor sport International. Powell joins Bird, Bourne and Panton in the Ford camp, returning to action with a Focus WRC08, while Skeete campaigns his Subaru Impreza WRC S12; the WRC-1 class is completed by Britain’s Rob Swann, now armed with an Impreza S11, and Bajan rising star Neil Armstrong, who won Rally Trinidad in March in the Suzuki SX4 WRC. The first chance for fans to mix with local, regional and international competitors will be at Simpson Motors Scrutineering on Saturday, May 24, with Scotiabank King of the Hill the following day allowing visiting crews, particularly newcomers to the event, an opportunity to experience local tarmac at competition speed. For the first time, Sol RB will start on Friday evening, with Special Stage 1 at the redeveloped Bushy Park Circuit in St Philip. Crews will have chance to recce the stage during the afternoon, with the Zero Car due to kick off the action at 6.30pm. Bushy Park Circuit will also be the venue for the Sunday finish, with a different configuration used to end the stage running through Padmore village four times during the day. Of the 25th running of the BRC’s blue riband event, Rally Chairman Mark Hamilton said: “I must thank all our sponsors, without whom the Barbados Rally Club would be seriously challenged to stage an event of this magnitude. We once again have a solid entry and are looking forward to a weekend of good, clean competition. Our aim year on year is to raise the bar and I am confident that we have achieved that again this year.” Title sponsor since 2008, the region’s largest independent oil company, Sol was represented today by Barbados Country Manager, Ezra Prescod, who said: “Sol is passionate about motor sport, and we are proud to be title sponsor for the seventh year. Every year, we are more excited to be involved and, as we mark the 25th running of this event, we salute the Barbados Rally Club and its many volunteer marshals and officials for their outstanding service to motor sport in the island.” For King of the Hill sponsor Scotiabank, Victor Boyce, Director, Corporate and Commercial Business Unit, said: “We are pleased to be back. Scotiabank has a very active sponsorship programme, in sports and culture, with criteria on which we base our involvement. Community is very important to us, and motor sport brings out Barbadians of all ages, classes and creeds to join together in a real community event.” Sol RB14 will be contested over 23 special stages: after Friday’s spectacular opening, there will 12 on Saturday, the final loop of three run in darkness; a further 10 on Sunday bring the competitive mileage up to 128 kilometres, around 11 per cent longer than last year. While some venues are familiar, others are less so, as the BRC strives to create an ever more level playing field for local and overseas competitors. During a lengthy and good-humoured Q & A session, which emphasised the close links between motor sport, the media and the wider community, Hamilton said: “While I would never say we have it perfect, a real effort is made every year to make incremental changes, to not bite off more than we can chew, and to learn from our mistakes. “One of the Rally Club’s biggest assets is that we are blessed, and have been for many years, with people that, when they take on a task, they don’t just touch it, they own it. That’s the way that things get done, and is a massive plus for the Club.” Rally Director Neil Barnard concluded: “We have invested a lot of time and money in our results system - for the first time, we have a complete manual back-up available, should anything fail - and in communications, an area so important for safety, which is crucial to us, and to our sponsors. Planning is all - the more ‘t’s are crossed, the more ‘i’s are dotted, the smoother things should be.” Sol Rally Barbados (May 30 - June 1) and Scotiabank King of the Hill (May 25) are organised and promoted by the Barbados Rally Club, which celebrated its 55th Anniversary in 2012; title sponsors are the Sol Group and Scotiabank. Marketing partners are Simpson Motors, LIME, Automotive Art, Banks and Karcher; official partners are Accra Beach Hotel & Spa, the Barbados Hotel & Tourism Association, the Barbados Tourism Authority, Geest Line, the Tourism Development Corporation and Virgin Atlantic Airways; associate sponsors are Chefette, Field Insurance, Glacial Pure, HOTT 95.3FM, Little Switzerland, Redline Fuels, Stoute’s Car Rental and West Indies Rum Distillery. For media information only. No regulatory value. web sites: rallybarbados.net; barbadosrallyclub Sol-RB14-25b: FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – May 8, 2014 SOL RALLY BARBADOS 2014 Provisional entry list at May 8 + driver/co-driver (car) – listed alphabetically by class + some classifications subject to scrutineering Key to nationalities (competitor from Barbados unless shown): ANT – Antigua & Barbuda; ARG – Argentina; CDN – Canada; ENG – England; GLP - Guadeloupe; GUY – Guyana; IRL – Republic of Ireland; JAM – Jamaica; NED – The Netherlands; NIR – Northern Ireland; SCO – Scotland; TCI – Turks & Caicos; TRI – Trinidad & Tobago; WAL – Wales WRC-1 Neil Armstrong/Barry Ward (Suzuki SX4 WRC) Paul Bird – ENG/Aled Davies – WAL (Ford Focus WRC08) Paul Bourne/Stuart Loudon – SCO (Ford Focus WRC07) Jeffrey Panton – JAM/Michael Fennell Jnr – JAM (Ford Focus WRC06) John Powell – TRI/Nicholas Telfer Jnr – TRI (Ford Focus WRC08) Roger Skeete/Louis Venezia (Subaru Impreza WRC S12) Rob Swann – ENG/Darren Garrod – WAL (Subaru Impreza WRC S11) WRC-2 Ray Brammer – ENG/Gary McElhinney – IRL (Subaru Impreza WRC S8) David Coelho – TRI/James Harris – ENG (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX) Roger Duckworth – ENG/Mark Broomfield – ENG (Subaru Impreza WRC S6) Roger Hill/Graham Gittens (Toyota Corolla WRC) Kevin Procter – ENG/Philip Hopkins – ENG (Subaru Impreza WRC S7) Dean Serrao/Josh Delmas (Subaru Impreza WRC S9) Rob Smith – ENG/Ross Weir – ENG (Subaru Impreza) Group A Stuart Deeley – ENG/Vishal Dhanraj – TRI (Toyota Celica GT4) Rupert Lomax – WAL/David Alcock – WAL (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VI) Joe McQuillan – NIR/Annette Daly – IRL (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VII) Pierre Negre – GLP/tba (Ford Escort Cosworth) Group N Tim Green – ENG/Rob Smith – ENG (Subaru Impreza) Andrew Mallalieu/Geoff Goddard (Subaru Impreza N10) Geoff Noel/Robert Simmons (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX) Mark Thompson/Kurt Seabra – GUY (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX) Simon Wallis – ENG/Peter Horsman – ENG (Subaru Impreza N10) SuperModified 12 Martin Atwell/Chris King (BMW M3) Justin Campbell/Juan Watts (BMW M3) Owen Cumberbatch/tba (BMW M3) Samuel Cumberbatch/Nicholas Yarde (BMW M3) Stan Hartling - TCI/Andy Proudfoot – CDN (BMW M3) Brian Gill/Ryan Wood (BMW M3) Frank Kelly – NIR/Liam Brennan – IRL (Ford Escort MkII) David St Hill/Ian Grimes (BMW M3) Martin Stockdale – ENG/Mark Swallow – ENG (BMW M3 Compact) Rhett Watson/James Hutchinson (BMW M3) SuperModified 11 Brendan Brosnan – IRL/Sean Moriarty – IRL (Peugeot 205) Andrew Jones/Lindsey Pilkington – ENG (Ford Escort MkII) Allan Mackay – SCO/Mo Downey – NIR (Ford Anglia WRC) Graham Manning/Mick Squires – ENG (Ford Escort MkII) Stuart McChlery/Julian Goddard (Ford Escort MkI) Dane Skeete/Tyler Mayhew (Peugeot 306 Maxi) Nigel Worswick – ENG/Rebecca Kirsch – ENG (Ford Escort MkII) SuperModified 10 Stuart Maloney/Orry Hunte (Peugeot 306 Maxi) Roger Mayers/Barry Mayers (WR Starlet) Josh Read/Mark Jordan (Toyota Starlet) Cliff Roett/Joshua Plaza – TRI (Toyota Starlet) Ralph White/Joe Troulan (Toyota Starlet WTR) SuperModified 9 Clifford Cox/Scott Bentham (Toyota Starlet) Rhett D’Andrade/Tristan Gibbs (Daihatsu Charmant) Carlos Edwards/Andre Waithe (Toyota Starlet) Winston Thompson/Fiona Austin McDonald - ANT (Toyota Starlet) Shareef Walcott/Jan-Yves Hinds (Toyota Corolla) Modified 7 Jamal Brathwaite/Dario Hoyte (Honda Civic Type-R) Norman Catwell/Kyle Catwell (Volkswagen Golf GTI) Daryl Clarke/Russell Brancker (Honda Civic) Edward Corbin/Rodney Clarke (Toyota Corolla RunX) Sean Field/Shannon Kirton (Peugeot 306 GTi6) Freddie Gale/Kyle Proverbs (Toyota Corolla RunX) Paul Horton – TCI/Kristian Yearwood (Ford Escort MkI) Jeremy Sisnett/Justin Sisnett (Ford Fiesta ST) Chris Ullyett/Derek Ince (Ford Escort RS2000) Modified 6 Neil Corbin/Matthew Staffner (Toyota Starlet) Jason Cozier/Sean Corbin (Peugeot 205GTi) Jeremy Gonsalves/Chris Corbin (Opel Corsa) Brendon Mckenzie/Sean Collett (Toyota Corolla) International Historic Chris Shooter – ENG/Bev LeGood – ENG (Ford Escort MkII) Historic Wayne Archer/Lucas Nicolao – ARG (BMW 325) Ding Boston – ENG/Andy Parsons – ENG (Alfa Romeo Giulia Sprint GTV) David Brewster/Alex Kirton (Peugeot 205GTi) John Corbin/Owen Proverbs (Toyota Corolla) Greg Cozier/Natasha Farnum (Ford Escort RS2000) Ken Mann – ENG/Kenneth Mann – ENG (Ford Escort MkII) Phil Ralphs – WAL/Aled Lloyd Jones – WAL (Ford Escort MkII) Gary Thomas – WAL/tba – WAL (Ford Escort MkII) Stuart White/John Boland (BMW 325) Clubman Eric Allamby/Andrew Skeete (Toyota Corolla) Fabien Clarke/Arlington Hoyte (Suzuki Ignis Sport) Jeremy Croney/Andrew Croney (Peugeot 206GTi) Peter Gallagher – IRL/Rene Forde (Peugeot 306) Kenny Hall – SCO/Fenny Wesselink – NED (Opel Corsa) Paul Inniss/Pierre Clarke (Honda Civic) Trevor Mapp/Talia Mapp (Mitsubishi Colt) Rommell R Martin/Rashid Phillips (Toyota Starlet) Dick Mauger – ENG/Steve McNulty – ENG (Nissan Micra) Conor Roach/Dominic Straker (Peugeot 106 Rallye) Cheryl Spencer – ENG/Barry Spencer – ENG (Ford Fiesta) Miguel Toppin/Yakub Haveliwala (Peugeot 205) * Group B James Betts/Allan Maynard (Renault Clio) Andrew Costin-Hurley – ENG/Rob Brook – ENG (Ford Puma) John Hardman – NIR/Alistair Dodd – ENG (Nissan Micra) Duane Johnson/tba (Mitsubishi Lancer) Harold Morley – ENG/Julia Caine (Porsche GT3) Randy Reid/tba (BMW E30) Geoffrey Ullyett/Jason King (Nissan 200T) Brian Watson – SCO/Caroline Will – SCO (Audi quattro S1) * Group B will be split into GpB1 and GpB2 after scrutineering Sol-RB14-25c: FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – May 8, 2014 SOL RALLY BARBADOS 2014 Special Stage Schedule All stages run in a single direction; times indicate Car 0 due Friday, May 30 1830 SS1 – Bushy Park Circuit Stage 1 (1.8km) Saturday, May 31 1000 Restart – Andrews Factory 1030 SS2 – Karcher Sailor Gully 1 (4.50km) 1105 SS3 – Automotive Art Canefield 1 (6.50km) 1130 SS4 – Spring Vale 1 (5.90km) 1245 SS5 – Karcher Sailor Gully 2 (4.50km) 1320 SS6 – Automotive Art Canefield 2 (6.50km) 1345 SS7 – Spring Vale 2 (5.90km) Service and lunch halt – Andrews Factory Total stage distance, leg 1 - 35.60km 1600 SS8 – Karcher Sailor Gully 3 (4.50km) 1635 SS9 – Automotive Art Canefield 3 (6.50km) 1700 SS10 – Spring Vale 3 (5.90km) 1815 SS11 – Karcher Sailor Gully 4 (4.50km) 1850 SS12 – Automotive Art Canefield 4 (6.50km) 1910 SS13 – Spring Vale 4 (5.90km) Total stage distance, leg 2 - 33.80km Total stage distance, legs 1 & 2 – 69.40km Sunday, June 1 0900 Restart – Andrews Factory 0930 SS14 – Bushy Park 1 (5.50km) 0950 SS15 – Kendal 1 (6.00km) 1015 SS16 – Malvern 1 (6.20km) 1115 SS17 – Bushy Park 2 (5.50km) 1135 SS18 – Kendal 2 (6.00km) 1200 SS19 – Malvern 2 (6.20km) Service and lunch halt - Andrews Factory Total stage distance, leg 3 - 35.40km 1330 SS20 – Bushy Park 3 (5.50km) 1350 SS21 – Malvern 3 (6.00km) 1415 SS22 – Kendal 3 (6.20km) 1515 SS23 – Bushy Park 4 (5.50km) Total stage distance, leg 4 - 23.20km Total stage distance, legs 3 & 4 - 58.60km Total overall stage distance - 128.00km
Posted on: Sun, 25 May 2014 05:29:03 +0000
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