News from Rally Barbados

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SOL RALLY BARBADOS: SPONSORSHIP CONFIRMED
World-class stars Waldegard and Meeke top the overseas entry

The Barbados Rally Club (BRC) and the Sol Group, the Caribbean’s largest independent oil company, have confirmed a three-year agreement, which will see them work closely together to expand the Club’s premier annual event - it will now be known as Sol Rally Barbados - and to promote it even more vigorously, both in the region and worldwide.
When they addressed a media conference at the Hilton Hotel, just outside the island’s capital Bridgetown, this morning (April 29), the principals of both organisations were up-beat about the future . . . not least because the overseas contingent for the first event to be run under its new title, over the weekend of May 31/June 1, will be led by two popular and well-known world-class drivers competing in Barbados for the first time.
The first-ever World Rally Champion, Sweden’s Bjorn Waldegard – he won the title in 1979 - will drive a Porsche 911, while one of rallying’s brightest hopes for the future, Ireland’s Kris Meeke, will campaign a Toyota Corolla World Rally Car. Although final details are unconfirmed, the BRC anticipates an overseas entry of nearly 30 cars.
Sol Executive Director Stewart Gill stated: “Sol is proud to be partnering with the Barbados Rally Club in the sponsorship of Sol Rally Barbados 2008. This sponsorship of the rally is a continuation of our long association with motor sport. We believe in Barbados and in the sport and it is our belief that there is definitely a great synergy between motor sport and Sol.”
Mark Hamilton, Chairman of the Barbados Rally Club, added: "This agreement with Sol is the largest single sponsorship deal in the history of the Barbados Rally Club, which celebrated its 50th Anniversary last year; it marks a really positive start to our second half-century. Sol's commitment over a three-year period has given the Club the security it needed to develop plans for steady growth in the scope and stature of Rally Barbados, as the event approaches its 20th Anniversary in 2010. All of us in the Club look forward to working with Sol to maximise the benefits this arrangement can bring, not only for ourselves, but for motor sport in the island and wider Caribbean."
In addition to title sponsorship of Rally Barbados, Sol will also be backing a new BRC event the previous weekend through its major brand name in the region; the Shell V-Power King of the Hill will run on Saturday, May 24, as a prelude to the ‘main event’. This HillSprint will double as a qualifying round of the Club’s newly-created Sprint Championship and as a ‘shakedown’ for overseas competitors in advance of Sol Rally Barbados – a top-class entry is anticipated.

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WORLD-CLASS STARS FOR SOL RALLY BARBADOS
Former Champion Waldegard and Meeke top the overseas entry

Sweden’s Bjorn Waldegard, the 1979 World Rally Champion, and Ireland’s Kris Meeke, a pace-maker in the Junior WRC in recent seasons, will compete in Sol Rally Barbados 2008 (May 31/June 1), giving the Caribbean island’s enthusiastic motor sport fans an unique opportunity to compare the past and present of International rallying.
Their entries were confirmed this morning (April 29) during a media conference at the Hilton Hotel, just outside the island’s capital Bridgetown, called to confirm the start of a three-year sponsorship deal agreed between the organising Barbados Rally Club (BRC) and the Sol Group, the Caribbean’s largest independent oil company.
Winner of 16 World Championship events and podium finisher in a further 17, Waldegard will drive a Porsche 911, the type of car in which he claimed his first International victory in the Monte Carlo Rally in 1969. The car is owned by former British Historic and National Rally Champion Steve Perez, a regular competitor in Barbados in recent years, initially in his ex-Hannu Mikkola Audi Quattro Sport, then in an ex-works Ford Focus WRC – he has finished fourth in Rally Barbados for the past two years.
Waldegard has already driven another car from the Perez stable, having finished second in the Post-Historic class of the opening round of this year’s British Historic Rally Championship, the Robin Hood Forest Stages, in March. Then, he drove an ex-works Lancia Stratos, the model in which he claimed four of his World Championship victories.
Still regarded as one of the world’s best-ever rally drivers, Waldegard’s outing in Barbados in being sponsored by Porsche and the island’s Porsche importer, Simpson Motors; although yet to be confirmed, he is expected to have the help of an experienced local co-driver.
For Meeke, whose personal sponsors Pirelli and Red Bull are supporting the trip, his participation marks a return to the island, after visiting as a spectator last year. He will compete with regular co-driver Paul Nagle in a Toyota Corolla World Rally Car owned by Trinidad-based Jamaican businessman John Powell and also sponsored by Digicel, Barbados Toyota dealer Nassco and local businesses Consolidated Finance, Armag and Crane & Equipments.
The ex-Didier Auriol car, in which Powell finished second in Rally Barbados 2007, has recently undergone a total rebuild at the workshop of Toyota guru Erik Wevers in Holland, following an accident in Barbados late last year in the hands of Mark Higgins. Meeke says: "I'm really looking forward to it – first, because it is the chance to compete on a real fun rally and second, I will get the chance to drive a WRC Corolla. It is a car I've always wanted to drive."
While he will be hoping to emulate the successes of fellow-countryman Kenny McKinstry, the only European driver to have won the event – he did so twice, in 1993 & ’96 - Meeke knows that winning is far from a foregone conclusion: “It is a very specialised rally and local knowledge is very important. Plus, there are some good drivers in the West Indies with nearly-current cars like Paul Bourne, Roger Skeete and, of course, John Powell."
Reigning BRC Rally Champion Bourne and Powell now both campaign Subaru Impreza WRC S9s, while Skeete – with 10 victories, the most prolific winner of the island’s premier event – has an ex-works Ford Escort WRC. Adding into the mix Jamaica’s Gary Gregg (Ford Focus WRC01) and other European regulars such as Perez and Kevin Procter, who now has an Impreza S7, means Meeke will have his work cut out.
Sol Rally Barbados Chairman Barry Gale said: “The closing date for entries is still some way off, although we are now almost certain of those who are committed to travel from overseas. Last year, we were boasting about six ex-factory World Rally Cars in the entry . . . well, we are certain to beat that number this year. And, apart from Bjorn Waldegard and Kris Meeke, whose names we have been able to confirm today, there are still some further interesting drivers and cars to be announced in the coming weeks.”

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BRITISH CHAMPIONS RENEW RIVALRY IN BARBADOS Capacity entry for Sol Rally Barbados?

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

Friday, May 23 - 4.00pm to approx 8.00pm Scrutineering at Sir Garfield Sobers Gymnasium, Wildey, St Michael Saturday, May 24 - 11.30am to approx 6.00pm Shell V-Power King of the Hill, Turner's Hall, St Andrew Monday to Friday, May 26 to May 30 - 4.00 to 6.00pm each day Meet the Drivers at Shell Warrens, St Michael (Mon-Weds) and Shell Banyans (Thurs-Fri) Saturday, May 31 - Sol Rally Barbados 2008 - day 1 Start from Simpson Motors, Warrens, St Michael, at 9.30am Twelve stages at three venues Sunday, June 1 - Sol Rally Barbados 2008 - day 2 Restart from Bushy Park, St Philip, at 7.30am Twelve stages at three venues Shell V-Power SuperSpecial at Bushy Park Monday, June 2 - approx 3.30pm - Sol Rally Barbados 2008 Prizegiving The Boatyard, Bay Street, St Michael

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.

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FOUR-WHEEL-DRIVE INVASION FROM BRITAIN
Six out of six for Procter

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 http://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 http://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.

Programme of key events

Friday, May 23 - 4.00pm to approx 8.00pm Scrutineering at Sir Garfield Sobers Gymnasium, Wildey, St Michael Saturday, May 24 - 11.30am to approx 6.00pm Shell V-Power King of the Hill, Turner's Hall, St Andrew Monday to Friday, May 26 to May 30 - 4.00 to 6.00pm each day Meet the Drivers at Shell Warrens, St Michael (Mon-Weds) and Shell Banyans (Thurs-Fri) Saturday, May 31 - Sol Rally Barbados 2008 - day 1 Start from Simpson Motors, Warrens, St Michael, at 9.30am Twelve stages at three venues Sunday, June 1 - Sol Rally Barbados 2008 - day 2 Restart from Bushy Park, St Philip, at 7.30am Twelve stages at three venues Shell V-Power SuperSpecial at Bushy Park Monday, June 2 - approx 3.30pm - Sol Rally Barbados 2008 Prizegiving The Boatyard, Bay Street, St Michael

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