Barbados Rally 2005

Key dates for Barbados Rally Carnival 2005

Saturday, May 14 - scrutineering for local entries, McEnearney Quality, Wildey
Wednesday, May 18 - arrival of European crews on Virgin Atlantic 747-400
Friday, May 20, 5.00pm - scrutineering of overseas entries, McEnearney Quality
Saturday, May 21, 9.00am - RallySprint qualifying, Vaucluse Raceway, St Thomas
Sunday, May 22, 9.00am - Vaucluse Raceway International RallySprint
Saturday, May 28, 9.00am - Rally Barbados 2005, day 1
Sunday, May 29, 7.30am - Rally Barbados 2005, day 2
Monday, May 30 - Rally Barbados 2005 prize-giving, The Boatyard

Wednesday, June 1 - departure of European crews

For further information:
e-mail - robin@bradfax.com
web sites - www.rallybarbados.bb; www.barbadosrallycarnival.com

 

 

Carn05-15/UK-Brook/RB'05: FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - June 1, 2005

BROOK WINS TROPHY IN RALLY BARBADOS
Former World Rally Champion surprise Guest of Honour

Croxley Green rally driver Rob Brook and father John (Birkenshaw) climbed into a Virgin Atlantic Boeing 747-400 to head home from the Caribbean today (June 1), clutching the trophies they claimed as third-place finishers in the Production 3 category of last weekend's Rally Barbados 2005.  Along with 18 other rally crews from Europe, they have been taking part in the fifth Barbados Rally Carnival; Rob first contested the head-to-head knockout competition of the Vaucluse Raceway International RallySprint (May 21/22), then John joined him as co-driver in the two-day RB'05 (May 28/29).  After three years of disappointments in the Caribbean's largest motor sport event, the Barbados crew of Roger Mayers and Max Ferri, driving a Ford Focus WRC, finally claimed outright victory, with the other podium places taken by crews from Jamaica - John Powell/Michael March (Toyota Corolla WRC) and Gary Gregg/Hugh Hutchinson (Ford Focus WRC).  With a total of 80 starters, and 13 different Groups being contested, there were battles all through the field to entertain the thousands of spectators who packed the popular viewing points along the 80 miles of special stages. Among them was the organising Barbados Rally Club's (BRC) Guest of Honour, 1994 World Rally Champion Didier Auriol, who flagged off the leading cars at the start, then presented all the awards - including Brook's - at the Monday prize-giving.  Brook, a product manager for Cadbury, was enjoying his second trip to the island, having finished second in the Production 2 class last year, as co-driver in fellow Middlesex County Automobile Club member Tom Ryan's Proton. For 2005, he stepped up to Production 3 with his Cadbury Adams-backed Peugeot 205GTi.  The class opposition included fellow-countrymen Simon Wallis - another Carnival returnee - and Neil Burgess (Vauxhall Astra Sport), but the main threat would come from local driver Derek Roach, seeking a hat-trick of wins in his Mini Cooper, co-driven by partner Tricia Gittens.   But Roach's day started badly, when his Mini cut out on the very first stage when a crash sensor killed the engine; this, plus a subsequent 'off' which punctured two tyres, cost him more than three minutes, and gave the visitors a chance. But Brook and Wallis were to finish second and third on that opening stage, as another local crew, Noel Edwards/Jason Downey (Daihatsu Charade GTti); indeed, the Charade finished ahead of one or other of the British entries on and off until the lunch break, but was to retire soon after.  So, for the remaining seven stages before lunch, although Roach was consistently quickest, the battle for Production 3 honours was fought out between Brook and Wallis; and, although Wallis was faster than Brook on five occasions, it was Brook who led the class at lunch, with an advantage of 7secs.  Thanks to the cancellation of three stages in the evening, following an accident and resultant delays, only three were run, Brook fastest in the Group on the first, Wallis on the second, Roach on the third. By the overnight halt, Wallis had taken the lead, with Brook just holding second from Roach, who had already clawed back a big chunk of the time he had lost with some very committed driving.  On Sunday morning, Wallis's Astra, which had struck the tyre wall and holed the radiator in the previous weekend's RallySprint, was suffering some gearbox problems, which gave the Brook camp cause for optimism. While Roach continued to set the pace - he took the Group lead after stage 18 - the British cars battled, Brook faster than Wallis on eight of the day's 11 stages, but it would not be enough.  Roach finished 31st and won the class - for the driver, a milestone 10th Group win in the event's 16 years - while Wallis and Brook finished 35th and 36th overall, second and third in Production 3. There was one final bonus for Brook, Group victory in the Total Sport SuperSpecial, run at the Vaucluse Raceway, in front of one of the largest crowds ever seen at a rally finish in Barbados . . . and they got a surprise, too, as Auriol did a demonstration run in Jamaican John Powell's Corolla WRC, donuts and all, which had them on their feet.

Rally Barbados 2005 was organised by the Barbados Rally Club in association with Automotive Art Shell, Banks Breweries, Cingular, Da Costa Mannings Autocentre, Digicel, DMS Distributors.com, McEnearney Quality, Simpson Motors, Texaco West Indies and Total Sport. The event was supported by Abacus Builders, The Boatyard, Nassco, SBI Distributors, Stoute's Car Rental and Williams Equipment.
 

 

Carn05-15aINT/RB'05: FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - May 31, 2005

RALLY BARBADOS 2005
Results

Key to nationalities (competitor from Barbados unless shown): AUT - Austria; ENG - England;
HOL - Holland; IoM - Isle of Man; JAM - Jamaica; NIR - Northern Ireland;
SCO - Scotland; SVG - St Vincent & The Grenadines; WAL - Wales

Overall
1st Roger Mayers/Max Ferri (M9 Ford Focus WRC), 58m 46.99s
2nd John Powell - JAM/Michael March - JAM (M9 Toyota Corolla WRC), 59m 39.73s
3rd Gary Gregg - JAM/Hugh Hutchinson - JAM (M9 Ford Focus WRC), 59m 47.04s
4th Barry Mayers/Adam Hart (S11 Toyota Starlet), 1h 01m 12.76s
5th Roger Hill/Graham Gittens (M8 Toyota Celica GT4), 1h 01m 35.38s
6th Peter Moodie Jnr - JAM/Mike Fennell Jnr - JAM (M8 Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VI), 1h 01m 46.02s
7th Doug Gore - JAM/Mark Nelson - JAM (M9 Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VIII), 1h 01m 47.16s
8th Trevor Manning/James Betts (M9 Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VIII), 1h 02m 51.47s
9th Kevin Procter - ENG/Mike Gilby - ENG (M9 Ford Puma Evo 4 x 4), 1h 03m 19.58s
10th Sean Dowding/Jason Cozier (M8 Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VI), 1h 03m 55.06s
etc

Highest placed overseas crew John Powell - JAM/Michael March - JAM (M9 Toyota Corolla WRC), 2nd overall
Highest placed two-wheel-drive car Barry Mayers/Adam Hart (S11 Toyota Starlet), 4th overall
Highest placed female competitor Jane Cowling - ENG, 27th overall (co-driver for Paul McMullan)

Starters 80 (Barbados 55, Europe 19, Regional 6)
Overall finishers 40 (Barbados 24, Europe 11, Regional 5)

Texaco Sunday Cup
1st Paul Bourne/Louis Venezia (M9 Subaru Impreza WRC), 26m 48.39s
2nd Barry Gale/Ryan Rodriguez (M8 Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VI), 28m 42.63s
3rd Martin Stockdale - ENG/Mark Swallow - ENG (GpB BMW M3 GTR), 29m 14.24s

Group results
Modified 9 1st Mayers/Ferri; 2nd Powell/March; 3rd Gregg/Hutchinson
Modified 8 1st Hill/Gittens; 2nd Moodie Jnr/Fennell Jnr; 3rd Dowding/Cozier
Group B 1st Stockdale/Swallow, 1h 04m 24.99s; 2nd Hugh Peat - ENG/Tom Jordan - ENG (Ford Escort RS Cosworth), 1h 52m 51.04s
Production 4 1st Geoffrey Noel/Kreigg Yearwood (Lancer Evo VI), 1h 04m 30.72s; 2nd Tom Roberts - ENG/Andy Stobart - ENG (Subaru Impreza WRX), 1h 11m 59.90s; 3rd Peter Thompson/Winston Agard (Proton Wira), 1h 10m 26.30s
SuperModified 10 & 11 merged 1st Mayers/Hart; 2nd Josh Read/Daryl Clarke (S11 Toyota Starlet), 1h 07m 59.82s; 3rd Winston Thompson/Russel Brancker (S11 Toyota Starlet), 1h 10m 59.69s
SuperModified 12 1st Robert Dick - WAL/Barry Green - WAL (Darrian T9), 1h 07m 35.26s; 2nd Gary Thomas - WAL/Phil Ralphs - WAL (Ford Escort MkII), 1h 07m 40.35s; 3rd Andy Carter - ENG/Cal Briggs - ENG (Ford Escort MkII), 1h 10m 9.65s
SuperModified 13 1st Jonathan Still/Heath Hazell (BMW M3), 1h 04m 45.41s; 2nd Andrew Jones/Stuart White (Ford Escort MkII), 1h 21m 35.58s; 3rd St Elmo Cumberbatch/Owen Cumberbatch (BMW E36), 1h 22m 52.80s
Modified 7 1st Edward Corbin/Mark Perkins (Toyota Corolla SR), 1h 06m 05.55s; 2nd Norman Catwell/Kyle Catwell (Peugeot 205GTI), 1h 07m 47.63s; 3rd Roger Marshall/Bruce Lambert (Hyundai Accent), 1h 08m 05.19s
Modified 6 1st Sean Gill/Michael Cummins (Suzuki Ignis JWRC), 1h 04m 57.82s; 2nd Steve Ollivierre - SVG/Keith Francis - SVG (Mitsubishi Mirage), 1h 07m 23.90s; 3rd Kirk Watkins/Justin Gill (Toyota Corolla), 1h 08m 22.53s
Modified 5 1st Brett Clarke/Garry Clarke (Suzuki Swift GTi), 1h 06m 21.01s; 2nd Wayne Manning/Willie Hinds (Peugeot 205XS), 1h 14m 47.45s
Historic 1st Colin Aitchison - SCO/Monty Pearson - SCO (Vauxhall Chevette HS), 1h 16m 34.83s
Production 3 1st Derek Roach/Tricia Gittens (Mini Cooper S), 1h 16m 00.11s; 2nd Simon Wallis - ENG/Neil Burgess - ENG (Vauxhall Astra Sport), 1h 17m 50.51s; 3rd Rob Brook - ENG/John Brook - ENG (Peugeot 205GTi), 1h 18m 27.81s
Production 1 & 2 merged 1st Neil Barnard/Chris Hoyos (P2 Suzuki Ignis Sport), 1h 16m 13.31s; 2nd Carlos Humphrey/Jonathan Foster (P2 Toyota Starlet), 1h 22m 20.94s; 3rd Gary Mendez/Grae Griffith (P2 Toyota Starlet), 1h 27m 34.25s

Total Sport Super Special - Vaucluse Raceway
Group winners
Modified 9 Bourne/Venezia
Modified 8 Moodie Jnr/Fennell Jnr
Production 4 Roberts/Stobart
Group B Stockdale/Swallow
SuperModified 13 Still/Hazell
SuperModified 12 Rupert Lomax - WAL/Dave Alcock - WAL (Ford Escort MkII)
SuperModified 11 Read/Clarke
Historic Aitchison/Pearson
Modified 7 Corbin/Perkins
Modified 6 Gill/Cummins
Modified 5 Clarke/Clarke
Production 3 Brook/Brook
Production 1 & 2 merged Barnard/Hoyos
 

 

Rob Brook's Barbados Update No.2 Dateline:  31st May 2004

 

After a week of relaxing, checking the car over and lots of partying we finally got round to doing some competition. Thursday night had a shakedown stage organised, Vacluse down to the end of the stage. Good chance to make sure all was well with the car, and check the notes at speed. And the crowds - Bloody hell, there were a lot of people there for the number of cars using the opportunity!!!
 
Saturday saw the rally start in ernest. We had a reasonable start - but we were having to settle into the surface, the notes - everything. When it rained we backed off too much but this was better than going off. We finished the night with a problem though - on the startline of the last stage we were told to pull to one side as an ambulance was coming through after a few minutes we were told to drive through slowly but they gave us the time!! We ended up protesting this, but we were given our previous  run time, which was slow compared to the times others in our class had been able to do. The problem with this was we didn't know how close the class was so Sunday we all pushed.
 
(Oh, minor problems we had - boiled brakes, pedal box coming loose, clutch slipping, then we found a wheel bearing was failing so had a late one changing that...)
 
The Sunday stages were a lot of fun. We were swapping times with Simon Wallis in the 2.0 Astra what was in our class. On the fast stages Simon was able to take time out of us, but we 'd take some back on the short twisty ones. A good battle!! Then it came to the last stage. Rumours were they would cancel it - but no they ran it, and it  rained. This was the stage where Tom had damaged the Proton 2 years before so we wound Simon up to encourage a mistake. We then took it very steady - but Simon kept it all together and took the 2nd in class. 1st in class was the Cooper S belonging to a local driver. He was very quick, and fair play to him, he was much quicker than us all day. So 3rd in class it was.
 
Then to Vacluse where we had one run  and quickest time in class won. Well we decided to put on a show to the big crowd that was there. This resulted in a few sideways moments, but we were quickest. Last night was the prize giving - so we walked away with 2 trophies each, but the highlight was a Mr Auriol presenting the trophies.
 
Many thanks to everyone who helped us out getting here. We are now sat on the beach having too many rum punches, but I'm sure you expected that.

 

 

Carn05-14/RB'05: FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - May 25, 2005


 FORMER WORLD CHAMPION ARRIVES IN BARBADOS
Didier Auriol is guest of honour for Rally Barbados 2005

International recognition of Rally Barbados takes on a new dimension this week, with the arrival at Grantley Adams International Airport on tomorrow afternoon's (Thursday) Virgin Atlantic flight from London Gatwick of 1994 World Rally Champion Didier Auriol. The Frenchman is in the island as the Barbados Rally Club's (BRC) guest of honour over the weekend of its premier event.
The second event in the annual Barbados Rally Carnival, RB'05 has attracted an entry of nearly 90 cars from Barbados, the wider Caribbean and Europe. Over the five years of the Rally Carnival, more than 150 overseas drivers have come to Barbados, bringing with them many thousands of supporters . . . but, never before a former World Rally Champion.
Auriol will flag off the highest-seeded runners at The Start at Simpson Motors from 9.00am on Saturday (May 28), then spectate over the weekend's 26 special stages, before presenting the major awards at the Official Prize-giving at The Boatyard on Monday.
BRC competition secretary and chairman of RB'05, Barry Gale, said: "We are delighted that Didier has agreed to travel here; it gives Rally Barbados a tremendous boost to know that someone of his standing is happy to give our event his endorsement, and is a credit to all those volunteers without whose help the Club would be unable to stage the event.
"His appearance here has come about as a result of John Powell's recent purchase of an ex-works Toyota Corolla WRC, in which Didier's then team-mate Carlos Sainz won the Monte Carlo Rally in 1998. Through his connections with former employees of Toyota Team Europe (TTE), 'Pentti' invited Didier to Barbados and he readily agreed.
"On behalf of the Barbados Rally Club, I would like to thank Virgin Atlantic, the Elegant Hotels Group and, particularly, Sue Springer of the BHTA, for their help in making this visit possible."
Auriol's World Rally Championship record is an impressive one; in 152 events, he finished on the podium 52 times - a remarkable one-in-three - winning 20 rallies between 1988 and 2001. His victories came in five different types of car, more than half in his days driving the Lancia Delta Integrale, including six wins in 1992, an unprecedented achievement in a single season.
After a collapse of the Lancia's challenge in the final three events of that year - Auriol eventually finished third in the standings - he had to wait until 1994 to win the title that most agreed was rightfully his two years earlier. He did so at the wheel of a Toyota Celica Turbo 4WD, in which he won three events, finished second twice and third once.
Auriol drove for TTE between 1993 and 1999, so has connections both with Powell's car, which the Jamaican has already driven in Barbados this year, and the older ex-TTE Celica GT4 of local Toyota dealer Roger Hill. In Sunday's International RallySprint at the Vaucluse Raceway, Hill set a superb personal best time of 2m 03.99s, the fourth-fastest time ever at the venue.

Rally Barbados 2005 is organised by the Barbados Rally Club in association with Automotive Art Shell, Banks Breweries, Cingular, Da Costa Mannings Autocentre, Digicel, DMS Distributors.com, McEnearney Quality, Simpson Motors, Texaco West Indies and Total Sport. The event is supported by Abacus Builders, The Boatyard, Nassco, SBI Distributors, Stoute's Car Rental and Williams Equipment.

 

 

Rob Brook's Barbados Update No.1 Dateline:  25th May 2004

 

Greetings to everyone from Sunny Barbados. This is update number 1, although it has taken a week to write...
 
As per usual the Virgin flight from Gatwick went with no problems, except the lack of alcohol. (We drank our quota for the 8 hour flight within 2 hours....) But with so many friends on-board that hadn't been seen for years the crowd was very sociable. Arrived in Barbados to a first interview with the voice of Barbados, Robin Bradford.
 
After settling in we've had party after party. The welcome party continued on to the early hours of Friday. Scrutineering was a much easier affair with the cars having arrived days earlier, and they were already signwritten. (Unfortunately, the graphics had incurred some damage during shipment, but generally the car had transported well) After scrutineering, there was not the usual burnout parade - at request of the organisers. (We were looking at a 60 second penalty for infringing that one...)
 
We've also had one event already - The rallysprint. Saturday went reasonably, but a missed gearchange on the third run cost me seconds. This was enough to leave me fourth in the class out of 9.(3 locals ahead of me.)
 
Sunday started badly though - They don't put slowest against quickest, they put quickest against 4th quickest, 2nd vs 5th, etc... This meant we were seeded against the quickest guy in the class, he'd been 8 seconds quicker the previous day. I took a lot out of that, but it wasn't enough. 2 more races were comfortably won, but we were told they didn't let me back into the championship - result 5th in class I believe. This was a big downer since I was getting quicker all the time, but it meant the party started earlier!!!
 
Since then we've been out getting the pacenotes ready for the rally. There are some new stages this year, and they are a bit daunting. But we'll see. Yesterday was a big day's drinking, as the Jolly Roger always is, so today we're being a bit calmer. Off to the drivers briefing shortly. Hopefully we'll report back in a few days time - if we can drag ourselves from the beach that is!!!!
 
All the best,
Rob Brook & The Cadbury Team.

 

 

5/23/2005 - RECORD DAY AT VAUCLUSE RACEWAY


Manning back on top after hot competition

Records were broken in abundance at the Vaucluse Raceway (VRW) in St Thomas on Sunday (May 22), as the VRW International RallySprint got the competitive action of the fifth annual Barbados Rally Carnival under way.

The largest-ever entry at VRW - 64 drivers - contested more races in one day than ever before, a remarkable total of 86; while many drivers posted 'personal best' times, it was the battle for the lap record between Trevor 'Electric Micey' Manning and Paul 'Surfer' Bourne on which many in the large crowd were focussed.

From an international perspective, it was not too good a weekend for the European contingent, with five of the 19 cars shipped over for the Carnival events failing to survive Saturday's three qualifying sessions. Crews are facing a busy few days trying to repair their cars in time for Rally Barbados 2005 this weekend.

It was clear from quite early that a new outright lap record was possible; the mark stood at 2min 03.43sec, set by Bourne in his Banks/Pirelli Subaru Impreza WRC last year. Prior to that, Manning had held the record since the Raceway opened in 2000, although his personal best in the Shell Helix/Courts/Automotive Art/Kerridge/Simpson Motors/Garbage Master Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VIII was a couple of seconds shy at 2:05.64s.

While Manning set the pace, with a lap in 2:04.24, it seemed that Bourne (2:05.88) might not be the only challenger; others on the pace included Roger 'Ninja' Hill, who clocked 2:07.53 in the Mobil 1/Nassco/Motormac/Michelin Toyota Celica GT4 and Roger 'The Sheriff' Skeete, who lapped in 2:08.74, despite the Havoline/McEnearney Quality/Michelin Ford Focus WRC looking decidedly skittish.

Of the overseas runners, English drivers Ray Brammer (Subaru Impreza WRX) and Kevin Procter (Ford Puma Evo 4 x 4) were the quickest, Brammer just ahead on 2:09.72. Among the British casualties on Saturday was John Hardman; his only run before the four-wheel-drive Ford Fiesta Cosworth's engine expired had been quicker than Brammer's first run, form which would have certainly seen him bracketed with the front-runners, too.

Qualifying inspired a number of impressive performances right through the classes - Sean Gill's reign as 'two-wheel-drive King' looked potentially under threat; while the double RallySprint Champion posted a time of 2:12.98 in the Suzuki Ignis JWRC, others looking hot included Steve Ollivierre from St Vincent, with 2:14.57 in his Mitsubishi Mivec, and Scotland's Kenny Hall, who clocked 2:14.97 on his second run (the gearbox in his Vauxhall Corsa-Suzuki died on run three and required overnight rebuilding).

Sunday was hot: in front of the largest crowd VRW has hosted for some time, racing was of an extremely high standard and run in perfect weather conditions. In a variation of normal practice, in which each group would be settled at one time, the organisers ran the first-round knock-outs for each group one after the other, so four-wheel-drive action was seen earlier in the day than usual . . . and, with it, came some shock results!

Neither Bourne nor Skeete made it past the first round, Surfer being beaten by Proctor, then Skeete falling prey to Harold 'Doc' Morley (Subaru Impreza WRC); during the losers' run-offs just before the lunchbreak, however, there was some consolation for Bourne, who broke his own lap record, posting a new time of 2:02.87 in what he later described as "my best-ever lap round here. I got the hairpins right every time, the high-speed sections, too. I don't see how I could have gone any faster than I did."

The action changed up a gear after lunch, with the run-offs to settle which eight drivers would go through to the Group winner's Handicap KnockOut. Production 1, 2 & 3 merged was won in fine style by the impressive Tristan Gibbs, on his first outing in the ex-Freddie Gale Toyota Starlet Turbo; he first beat Graham Gittens in a similar car, then his brother Sean Gibbs (Datsun 120Y). Sunday marked the debut of the new Suzuki Ignis Sport in the hands of Neil Barnard, who finished third in the group, after Gittens crashed out of the run-off, seriously damaging the Starlet, although uninjured himself.

VRW RallySprint Cup leader James Betts (Opel Corsa) emerged victorious from some exciting encounters in Modified 5, first beating Wayne Manning (Peugeot 205XS), then Brett Clarke (Suzuki Swift). Kenny Hall was beaten by Clarke in an extremely close finish, but went on to defeat Manning in the run-off for third place.

Gill was made to work for his victory in Modified 6, beating the determined Kirk Watkins (Toyota Corolla) by a narrow margin in his heat, then keeping England's Paul McMullen (Proton Satria Kitcar) at bay in the final. Watkins, the only driver to have contested every VRW RallySprint, beat Ollivierre in the third-place run-off.

In Modified 7, with less than two seconds covering the fastest three cars, close racing was guaranteed, and it was delivered. Edward Corbin (Toyota Corolla SR) first beat Greg Cozier (Ford Escort RS2000), then Roger Marshall (Hyundai Accent).

SuperModified 9 & 10 produced another fine display from a VRW novice - in a battle of Toyota Starlets, Josh Read beat Karl Waterman in his heat, although he couldn't quite see off the experienced Simon Gillmore (Peugeot 205) in the final. Gillmore had beaten Matthew Staffner in his heat, the Toyota Corolla driver also losing to Waterman in the third-place run-off.

With a trio of Mark II Ford Escorts, SuperModified 11 was another guaranteed crowd-pleaser, Mark Hamilton winning the final from Welshman Gary Thomas, who had earlier defeated his fellow-countryman Rupert Lomax.

Jonathan Still and England's Martin Stockdale faced one another in their BMW M3s in the SuperModified 12 final, Stockdale having earlier beaten his team-mate Hugh Peat (Ford Escort RS Cosworth). The local man came out the winner, but by a very narrow margin after a race that had the spectators in full voice.

By the time the Modified 8 run-offs were due to start, the spectator areas were packed, and alive with anticipation . . . first to go were Manning and Hill, the race a lot closer than many had anticipated. In the process of beating Hill, Manning regained his lap record, shaving nearly a full second off Bourne's mark from earlier in the day, the record now 2:01.88.

Manning went on to beat Procter in the final, in which the Englishman set a PB of 2:04.08, which was also good enough for the best overseas time of the day, repeating his feat (albeit around 10 seconds faster) of the International RallySprint two years before. Hill, too, established a PB, at an impressive 2:03.99, in the process of defeating Morley in the third-place run-off.

As usual, the Handicap KnockOuts brought out the best in people, the impressive young Gibbs reaching the final, after seeing off Betts and Gill who, in turn had defeated Corbin in his quarter-final. His opponent in the last race of the day was Hamilton, who had beaten Gillmore and Still; Manning suffered a throttle body failure in his run against Still, so could not take on the BMW.

Both Gibbs and Hamilton set their best time of the weekend in the Handicap Final, 'Hammie' bringing the rapid youngster's run of success to an end, his victory coming by just a couple of lengths, another close-run thing on a day of quality racing in a Carnival atmosphere. The end-of-day prize-giving was well-attended, the winners receiving champagne from Axis Inc, plaques from D Blades Trophies Ltd and rally DVDs of Irish producer 'Plum' Tyndall's visits to Barbados.

The Vaucluse Raceway International RallySprint was organised by the Vaucluse Raceway Motorsport Club and supported by Axis Inc, the Simpson Motors Rally Team and D Blades Trophies Ltd.

VAUCLUSE RACEWAY INTERNATIONAL RALLYSPRINT
Results

Key to nationalities (competitor from Barbados unless shown): AUT - Austria; ENG - England; NIR - Northern Ireland; SCO - Scotland; SVG - St Vincent & The Grenadines; WAL - Wales

Group winner's Handicap KnockOut
Quarter-finals: Tristan Gibbs beat James Betts; Sean Gill beat Edward Corbin; Mark Hamilton beat Simon Gillmore; Jonathan Still beat Trevor Manning
Semi-finals: Gibbs beat Gill; Hamilton beat Still
Final: Hamilton beat Gibbs
Banks Pig'n'Likka Driver of the Day: Gary Thomas - WAL and Rupert Lomax - WAL

Best time of the day - Trevor Manning, 2m 01.88s (new lap record)
Best overseas time of the day - Kevin Procter, 2m 04.08s

Group results
Production 1, 2 & 3 merged: 1st Tristan Gibbs (P3 Toyota Starlet Turbo); 2nd Sean Gibbs (P3 Datsun 120Y); 3rd Neil Barnard (P2 Shell Helix/Courts/Automotive Art/Kerridge/Simpson Motors Suzuki Ignis Sport); 4th Noel Edwards (P3 Daihatsu Charade GTti)

Modified 5: 1st James Betts (Champion Auto/KG Enterprises/Venture Marble/Hankook/Bridgestone/L & N Workshop/Kendall Sporting Opel Corsa GSi); 2nd Brett Clarke (Shell Helix/Courts/Automotive Art/Kerridge/Simpson Motors Suzuki Swift GTi); 3rd Kenny Hall - SCO (Lochcarron of Scotland/Simpson Motors Vauxhall Corsa-Suzuki); 4th Wayne Manning (Citgo/Black Bess Quarry/Glassfibre Products Peugeot 205XS)

Modified 6: 1st Sean Gill (Shell Helix/Courts/Automotive Art/Kerridge/Simpson Motors Suzuki Ignis JWRC); 2nd Paul McMullan - ENG (Plaice T & R Insurance/Motoscope/Hardrock Flooring Proton Satria Kitcar); 3rd Kirk Watkins (Abacus Builders Inc/Planned Maintenance/Bridgestone Toyota Corolla); 4th Steve Ollivierre - SVG (ECMIL/Empire Cigarettes Mitsubishi Mirage)

Modified 7: 1st Edward Corbin (Automotive Art/Kumho Toyota Corolla SR); 2nd Roger Marshall (Signia Financial/Western Union/Bill Express Hyundai Accent); 3rd Greg Cozier (Citgo/Hyundai Commercial & Industrial Ford Escort RS2000); 4th Freddie Gale (Wurkx Mechanical/Nishikoi Fish Foods/VP Racing/Gales Hatcheries Toyota Corolla RunX)

SuperModified 9 & 10 merged: 1st Simon Gillmore (S10 Halton Graphics/DHL World Wide Express/SRG Engineering/Toyo Tyres Peugeot 205); 2nd Josh Read (S10 Baram Services/ERP Exports/Forever Flowers/D Blades Trophies Toyota Starlet); 3rd Karl Waterman (S10 Flyin' Fish Toyota Starlet); 4th Matthew Staffner (M5 Williams Industries/Ullyetts Machine Shop/Errie's Tyre Service Toyota Corolla)

SuperModified 11: 1st Mark Hamilton (McEnearney Quality Inc/Consolidated Finance/Automotive Art Ford Escort Mk II); 2nd Gary Thomas - WAL (Ford Escort MkII); 3rd Rupert Lomax - WAL (John Hardman Engineering/SMS/Dee-Jays of Rhyl/Dig-It Ford Escort MkII); 4th Lindsay Farmer (Nassco/Toyo Tyres/Denso/Freezetone/Mobil 1/Philips Lighting Toyota Starlet Turbo)

SuperModified 12: 1st Jonathan Still (Hitachi Power Tools/Philips Lighting/Warrens Motors/Crane & Equipment/VP Racing BMW M3); 2nd Martin Stockdale - ENG (Plasterland/Drive-a-Matic BMW M3 GTR); 3rd Hugh Peat - ENG (Plasterland/Jordan Road Surfacing Ford Escort RS Cosworth); 4th Ernst Harrach - AUT (Porsche 911)

Modified 8: 1st Trevor Manning (Shell Helix/Courts/Automotive Art/Kerridge/Simpson Motors/Garbage Master Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VIII); 2nd Kevin Procter - ENG (Procters Coaches/Swift Signs/PC Vehicle Rentals/Motoscope Ford Puma Evo 4 x 4); 3rd Roger Hill (Mobil 1/Nassco/Motormac/Michelin Toyota Celica GT4); 4th Harold Morley (Sunbeach Communications/Gio-Goi Subaru Impreza WRC)

 

 

Carn05-10/RB'05: FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - May 15, 2005

ROUTE CHANGES FOR RALLY BARBADOS 2005
Fewer special stages, but a return to Turners Hall

For the second successive year, the Barbados Rally Club (BRC), organiser of Rally Barbados, has revised the route of the two-day event in its continuing efforts to balance retaining the appeal of the Caribbean's premier rally to overseas competitors with the importance of limiting inconvenience to the public.
For 2005, there will be 26 special stages, compared with 32 on last year's schedule; three stages have been cut from each day, allowing an earlier finish on Saturday night - by around one hour - and extended transit time between stages throughout the two days. The overall stage distance has also been cut to just over 130 kilometres (81 miles), compared with 164 kilometres last year.
Rally chairman Barry Gale said: "We have made these changes in an effort to get competitors - and our loyal marshals - to bed earlier on Saturday, as well as to minimise the inconvenience to the public who live along the route.
"I hope these are changes that will make Rally Barbados more enjoyable for all, as the organisers continue to search for improvements that raise the standard of the event . . . all in an effort to lure our overseas visitors back every year."
Once again, there is a strong entry from Europe and around the region to take on the best that Barbados can offer, in what promises to be a classic contest. Including those arriving on Wednesday from Europe on a Virgin Atlantic Boeing 747-400 for the fifth Barbados Rally Carnival, more than 150 overseas competitors have come to the island since 2001, attracted by the opportunity to combine their favourite sport with a relaxing holiday.
RB'05 (May 28/29) is rounds three and four of the new-for-2005 Texaco BRC Rally Championship, in which drivers score points only for their overall position, and not in the usual Groups. In addition, Texaco has taken up sponsorship of the Sunday Cup; initiated last year, this rewards the performance on Sunday's 12 stages of those competitors who fail to complete the Saturday route.
A total of seven special stage venues will be used this year: from the 9.00am Saturday start at Simpson Motors in Warrens, competitors will head straight for Automotive Art Shell Canefield, the popular 5.9km stage, which runs from the bottom of Hangman's Hill, turning north past the Vaucluse Raceway. Last year's route is then repeated, the next venue being DMS Distributors.com Sailor Gulley, the 4.5km stage running westbound.
The first change in the route comes next, with a return to the 3.6km Dark Hole stage before the first service, back at Simpson Motors. These three stages are then repeated before second service, after which the third loop will comprise just two stages, Dark Hole being missed out.
Sailor Gully starts route 2 after the lunch break, this time running east, and is following by Turners Hall (4.4km), another popular stage with spectators, although its configuration is a little different to that of the past. The loop is completed with a southbound run through Canefield, before service. This loop is then repeated, with the first car scheduled to pass through the last stage of the day at 7.50pm, compared with 9.00pm in RB'04.
The Sunday morning restart will be at 7.30am from the yard at Carrington Factory, which will also be the service area for the day. The morning route will comprise Stewarts Hill (4.2km, running west), Malvern (3.1km, running east) and DaCosta Mannings Auto Centre Kendall (8.1km, running south), each stage run twice. Special arrangements are in place for parking on the Kendall stage, and rally fans are asked to abide by the instructions given by marshals.
All three of these venues will also see action twice during the afternoon, although - unlike last year - Malvern will continue to run eastbound, while Stewarts Hill and Kendall will switch directions. The Total Sport Super Special at the Vaucluse Raceway will bring the curtain down on RB'05, with provisional results posted in the pits.
Rally Barbados 2005 is organised by the Barbados Rally Club in association with Automotive Art Shell, Banks Breweries, Da Costa Mannings Autocentre, DMS Distributors.com, McEnearney Quality, Simpson Motors, Texaco West Indies and Total Sport. The event is supported by Abacus Builders, The Boatyard, Nassco, SBI Distributors, Stoute's Car Rental and Williams Equipment. The Vaucluse Raceway International RallySprint is organised by the Vaucluse Raceway Motorsport Club.

 

 

Carn05-10a/RB'05: FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - May 15, 2005

Schedule

Saturday, May 28
0900    Start at Simpson Motors
0912    SS1 - Automotive Art Shell Canefield North 1    5.90km
0946    SS2 - DMS Distributors.com Sailor Gully West 1    4.50km
1011    SS3 - Dark Hole 1    3.60km
  Service - Simpson Motors
1112    SS4 - Automotive Art Shell Canefield North 2    5.90km
1146    SS5 - DMS Distributors.com Sailor Gully West 2    4.50km
1211    SS6 - Dark Hole 2    3.60km
  Service - Simpson Motors
1312    SS7 - Automotive Art Shell Canefield North 3    5.90km
1346    SS8 - DMS Distributors.com Sailor Gully West 3    4.50km
  Service and lunch halt - Simpson Motors
Total stage distance, route 1    38.40km

1630    SS9 - DMS Distributors.com Sailor Gully East 1    4.80km
1700    SS10 - Turners Hall 1    4.40km
1732    SS11 - Automotive Art Shell Canefield South 1    5.90km
  Service - Simpson Motors
1848    SS12 - DMS Distributors.com Sailor Gully East 2    4.80km
1918    SS13 - Turners Hall 2    4.40km
1950    SS14 - Automotive Art Shell Canefield South 2    5.90km

Total stage distance, route 2    30.20km
Total stage distance, day 1    68.60km

Sunday, May 29
0730    Restart - Carrington Factory
0747    SS15 - Stewarts Hill West 1    4.20km
0813    SS16 - Malvern East 1    3.10km
0829    SS17 - DaCosta Mannings Auto Centre Kendal South 1    8.10km
  Service - Carrington Factory
0932    SS18 - Stewarts Hill West 2    4.20km
0958    SS19 - Malvern East 2    3.10km
1014    SS20 - DaCosta Mannings Auto Centre Kendal South 2    8.10km
  Service and lunch halt - Carrington Factory
Total stage distance, route 3    30.80km

1238    SS21 - Malvern East 3    3.10km
1258    SS22 - Stewarts Hill East 1    4.40km
  Service - Carrington Factory
1352    SS23 - DaCosta Mannings Auto Centre Kendal North 1    8.10km
1417    SS24 - Malvern East 4    3.10km
1437    SS25 - Stewarts Hill East 2    4.40km
1507    SS26 - DaCosta Mannings Auto Centre Kendal North 2    8.10km

  Total Sport Super Special at Vaucluse Raceway

Total stage distance, route 4    31.20km
Total stage distance, day 2    62.00km

Total overall stage distance    130.60km
 

 

Carn05-09INT/RB'05: FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - May 14, 2005

QUALITY ENTRY FOR RALLY BARBADOS 2005
Competitors from 11 countries included in 86-car entry

Eighty-six cars appear on the entry list for Rally Barbados 2005 issued after the 4.00pm final closing date yesterday (May 13) by the organising Barbados Rally Club (BRC); rounds three and four of the Texaco BRC Rally Championship, it will be staged on May 28/29.
 For the fifth time, the BRC's premier event forms part of the Barbados Rally Carnival, which has again attracted a healthy overseas entry; competitors from 11 countries - including host nation Barbados - will take part, with 52 drivers or co-drivers arriving from overseas.
 Releasing the entry list, Rally Chairman Barry Gale said: "All in all, we have a world-class entry again this year, the Europeans joined by some determined Jamaicans, Trinis, Vincentians . . . and even an ex-Simon Jean-Joseph Renault Clio JWRC from Martinique. Nine 'WRC-spec' cars is a record entry for us and, even though the total number of entries is a little down on last year, the quality continues to rise, making it better for spectators and the media every year."
 Start number 1 has been allocated to last year's winner - and the winner nine times before that in the 15-year history of the event - Roger 'The Sheriff' Skeete; this year, he has a new Ford Focus WRC, a new co-driver - Stuart Maloney - but at least two of the same key challenges as last year.
 Starting at number 2 is the second Focus crew of Roger Mayers/Max Ferri - plagued by mechanical problems over the past two years - while 1999 winner Trevor Manning starts at 3, co-driven by James Betts in the Mitsubishi Evo VIII. Making for three manufacturers represented in the top four seeds, Paul Bourne returns from retirement to again partner Louis Venezia in the 2003-winning Subaru Impreza WRC.
 Of his 'comeback' after retiring at the end of last season, Bourne said: "This really is a one-off. When I stopped, the car needed to be fixed up all ready for selling, some bodywork, painting, some rebuilding, so it would look nice, look good to sell. I thought it would have been sold by now. It really didn't matter to me, and I didn't even go and see it while the work was being done.
 "Then about 10 days ago, I went over and saw it, and thought, Rally Barbados is only a month away; if I'm going to give it one last outing, then that would be the rally to do it for. It was never in the plan, as I am never going to go rallying again as I did before."
 Bourne has only driven the Impreza once since it was back on the road, and realised that he was pretty rusty - his last event was more than six months ago. In a brief Bushy Park shakedown, just to make sure everything was in place, a couple of problems were identified, which have resulted in parts returning to the UK for work . . . so the car has been on stands for the past few days.
 Apart from Mayers, Manning and Bourne, Skeete will face some new challenges this year, including two of the highest-seeded visitors: England's Kevin Procter claims the highest overseas seeding - reflecting his fifth-place finish last year - but returns with a rare four-wheel-drive Ford Puma.
 And the region could pose a headache or two for Skeete as well: two ex-Carlos Sainz World Rally cars arrive in the hands of Jamaicans Gary Gregg (2001 Ford Focus WRC) and John Powell (1998 Toyota Corolla WRC).

The headline facts (updated) about Rally Barbados 2005:
+ the entry stands at 86 cars
+ this includes nine WRC-specification cars, more than ever before
+ competitors come from 11 countries, including host nation Barbados, with 52 overseas drivers or co-drivers on the list
+ they will tackle 26 special stages, totalling 130.60 kilometres (81.15 miles)
+ more than 50 different models from 20 manufacturers are listed in the entry
+ numerically, Toyota is the strongest marque, with 22 cars, while Ford is also in double figures, at 15 entries

 Rally Barbados 2005 is organised by the Barbados Rally Club in association with Automotive Art Shell, Banks Breweries, Da Costa Mannings Autocentre, DMS Distributors.com, McEnearney Quality, Simpson Motors, Texaco West Indies and Total Sport. The event is supported by Abacus Builders, The Boatyard, Nassco, SBI Distributors, Stoute's Car Rental and Williams Equipment. The Vaucluse Raceway International RallySprint is organised by the Vaucluse Raceway Motorsport Club.
 

 

Carn05-09aINT/RB'05: FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - May 14, 2005

Entry list at May 13, 2005

Key to nationalities (competitor from Barbados unless shown): AUT - Austria; ENG - England; HOL - Holland; IoM - Isle of Man; JAM - Jamaica; MAR - Martinique; NIR - Northern Ireland; SCO - Scotland; SVG - St Vincent & The Grenadines; WAL - Wales

driver/co-driver (group car)

1    Roger Skeete/Stuart Maloney (M9 Ford Focus WRC)
2    Roger Mayers/Max Ferri (M9 Ford Focus WRC)
3    Trevor Manning/James Betts (M9 Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VIII)
4    Paul Bourne/Louis Venezia (M9 Subaru Impreza WRC)
5    Kevin Procter - ENG/Mike Gilby - ENG (M9 Ford Puma Evo 4 x 4)
6    John Powell - JAM/Michael March - JAM (M9 Toyota Corolla WRC)
7    Gary Gregg - JAM/Hugh Hutchinson - JAM (M9 Ford Focus WRC)
8    Doug Gore - JAM/Mark Nelson - JAM (M9 Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VIII)
9    Roger Hill/Graham Gittens (M8 Toyota Celica GT4)
10    Barry Gale/Ryan Rodriguez (M8 Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VI)
11    Peter Moodie Jnr - JAM/Mike Fennell Jnr - JAM (M9 Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VI)
12    Barry Mayers/Adam Hart (S11 Toyota Starlet)
13    not issued
14    Mark Maloney/tba (M9 Nissan Pulsar GtiR)
15    Harold Morley - ENG/Geoffrey Goddard (M9 Subaru Impreza WRC)
16    Ray Brammer - ENG/Matthew Whattam - ENG (M8 Subaru Impreza WRX)
17    John Hardman - NIR/Jim Holder - ENG (GpB Ford Fiesta Cosworth 4 x 4)
18    Jonathan Still/Heath Hazell (S13 BMW M3)
19    Robert Dick - WAL/Barry Green - WAL (S13 Darrian T9)
20    Cliff Roett/Allan Maynard (S12 Toyota Starlet)
21    Martin Stockdale - ENG/Mark Swallow - ENG (S13 BMW M3 GTR)
22    Geoffrey Noel/Kreigg Yearwood (P4 Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VI)
23    Peter Thompson/Winston Agard (P4 Proton Wira)
24    Tom Roberts - ENG/Andy Stobart - ENG (P4 Subaru Impreza WRX)
25    Keith Bernard - IoM/tba (P4 Subaru Impreza WRX)
26    Sean Gill/Michael Cummins (M6 Suzuki Ignis JWRC)
27    Thierry Ferreira - MAR/Freddy Bernard - MAR (M6 Renault Clio JWRC)
28    Neil Armstrong/Ben Armstrong (M6 Toyota Starlet)
29    St Elmo Cumberbatch/Owen Cumberbatch (S13 BMW E36)
30    Ernst Harrach - AUT/Josef Pointinger - AUT (Hist Porsche 911)
31    Colin Aitchison - SCO/Monty Pearson - SCO (Hist Vauxhall Chevette HS)
32    Hugh Peat - ENG/Tom Jordan - ENG (S13 Ford Escort RS Cosworth)
33    Nicholas Gill/Tony Pile (S13 Volkswagen Beetle)
34    Rajendra Jadusingh - JAM/David Anderson - JAM (M6 Mitsubishi Mirage)
35    Steve Ollivierre - SVG/Keith Francis - SVG (M6 Mitsubishi Mirage)
36    Kirk Watkins/Justin Gill (M6 Toyota Corolla)
37    Rupert Lomax - WAL/Dave Alcock - WAL (S12 Ford Escort MkII)
38    Gary Thomas - WAL/Phil Ralphs - WAL (S12 Ford Escort MkII)
39    Andy Carter - ENG/tba (S12 Ford Escort MkII)
40    Kenrick Husbands/Ian Griffith (S11 Toyota Starlet)
41    Andrew Costin-Hurley - ENG/Bryan Hull - ENG (S13 Ford Puma Evo)
42    Roger Kelly/Corrie Hinds (P4 Mazda Familia)
43    Calvin Briggs/Corey Atkins (S13 Ford Escort MkII)
44    Graeme Finlayson - SCO/Jamal Brathwaite (S10 Fluke WR1C)
45    Wayne King/tba (S12 Peugeot 306 S16)
46    Barry Ward/Matthew Staffner (S11 Toyota Starlet)
47    Edward Corbin/Mark Perkins (M7 Toyota Corolla SR)
48    Adrian Linton/Jonathan Linton (M7 Vauxhall Astra GTE)
49    Greg Cozier/Antonio Da Silva (M7 Ford Escort RS2000)
50    Norman Catwell/Kyle Catwell (M7 Peugeot 205GTi)
51    Kurt Thompson/Sean Whitehead (M7 Honda Civic)
52    Geoffrey Ullyett/Jamie Marsh (M7 Nissan 200Y)
53    Freddie Gale/Kyle Proverbs (M7 Toyota Corolla RunX)
54    Roger Marshall/Bruce Lambert (M7 Hyundai Accent)
55    John Corbin/Rodney Clarke (M7 Toyota Corolla)
56    Chris Ullyett/Derek Ince (M7 Nissan 200Y)
57    Neil Thompson/tba (M7 Toyota Corolla)
58    Simon Gillmore/Tricia Gillmore (M7 Peugeot 205GTi)
59    Ron Layne/Giselle Layne (M7 Nissan Sunny)
60    David Brewster/Robert Simmons (M7 Peugeot 205GTi)
61    Reggie Gill/tba (S12 Vauxhall Chevette)
62    Lindsay Farmer/Megan Blades (S12 Toyota Starlet Turbo)
63    Andrew Jones/Stuart White (S13 Ford Escort MkII)
64    Kenny Hall - SCO/Fenny Wesselink - HOL (M5 Vauxhall Corsa-Suzuki)
65    Wayne Manning/Willie Hinds (M5 Peugeot 205XS)
66    Brett Clarke/Garry Clarke (M5 Suzuki Swift GTi)
67    Joshua Delmas/Adam Alleyne (M6 Toyota Corolla Gti)
68    Rob Brook - ENG/John Brook - ENG (M6 Peugeot 205GTi)
69    Paul McMullan - ENG/Jane Cowling - ENG (M6 Proton Satria Kitcar)
70    Roger Jordan/Pedro Thomas (M6 Toyota Starlet)
71    Neil Corbin/Jeremy Roach (S11 Toyota Starlet)
72    Josh Read/Daryl Clarke (S11 Toyota Starlet)
73    Winston Thompson/Russel Brancker (S11 Toyota Starlet)
74    Derek Roach/Tricia Gittens (P3 Mini Cooper S)
75    Simon Wallis - ENG/Neil Burgess - ENG (P3 Vauxhall Astra Sport)
76    Neil Barnard/Chris Hoyos (P2 Suzuki Ignis Sport)
77    Nigel Browne/Kirk Phillips (M6 Nissan Sunny)
78    Shaun Alleyne/Jim Mark (S11 Toyota Starlet)
79    Mark Sabga/Hally Holder (S13 Volkswagen Beetle)
80    Rhett Watson/Logan Watson (Hist Ford Escort MkI)
81    Graham Manning/Ryan Farmer (Hist Ford Cortina)
82    Jeremy Gonsalves/Ian Warren (M5 Suzuki Forsa GTi)
83    Christian Scherr/tba (S12 Toyota Starlet Turbo)
84    Noel Edwards/Jason Downey (P3 Daihatsu Charade GTti)
85    Gary Mendez/tba (P2 Toyota Starlet)
86    Carlos Humphrey/Kyle Rodriguez (P2 Toyota Starlet)
87    Daniel Williams/tba (P1 Peugeot 106)
 

 

Carn05-08/UK-Brook: FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - May 12, 2005

BROOK FAMILY GOES RALLYING IN THE SUN
Barbados Rally Carnival reaches its fifth birthday

Croxley Green rally driver Rob Brook is among 19 European rally crews who will land in Barbados next Wednesday (May 18) on a Virgin Atlantic Boeing 747-400; they will spend two weeks on the Caribbean island contesting the annual Barbados Rally Carnival, taking on a further 60 crews from the island and around the region.
Brook is making a family trip of it, too, with father John (Birkenshaw) acting as co-driver; they are eager to be reunited with Brook's Peugeot 205GTi rally car, which was shipped across the Atlantic on the Geest Line freighter MV Santa Lucia and landed in Barbados last week.
Including those arriving this year for the fifth Barbados Rally Carnival, more than 150 overseas competitors have been lured to the small Caribbean island since 2001 by the opportunity to combine their favourite sport with a relaxing break on its palm-fringed beaches. The most easterly in the island chain, Barbados is 21 miles long by 15 miles wide - just 166 square miles in all - but has an intricate network of roads, which are ideal for rallying.
Carnival comprises two events: the Vaucluse Raceway International RallySprint (May 21/22) is a mixed-surface competition on a three-kilometre figure-of-eight course high on a hill in the centre of the island; Rally Barbados 2005 (May 28/29) is a two-day closed-road tarmac rally, which is run at seven special-stage venues island-wide.
There is a calendar of social and sight-seeing events to allow visitors to get to know Barbados, taking in local attractions such as the pirate ship Jolly Roger and the Harbour Lights night club . . . even the Rally Barbados prize-giving takes place at a beach bar, the Boatyard, in the island's capital, Bridgetown.
They love their motor sport in the Caribbean: an estimated 25,000 turn out each year to watch the two days of Rally Barbados - nearly 10 per cent of the population! - and the Bajans, as they are known, are a very hospitable nation.
Brook, who is a product manager for Cadbury, is making his second journey to Barbados, having competed last year as co-driver for Tom Ryan, a fellow member of the Middlesex County Automobile Club, which celebrates its centenary this year. In Ryan's Proton Satria, the MCAC pair finished second in the Production 2 class on RB'04, a result that encouraged Rob to make his return.
Although relatively inexperienced - Rob only started competing in 2002 - he has a good record of finishing, as does the Peugeot. Brook says: "The car is prepared by Dad and I, with some help more recently from Kevin Fowler, another club member. It is nearly 20 years old, has 116,000 miles on the clock, and was converted into a rally car in 2002. Since then, it has done 12 rallies and finished 11, despite never being professionally looked-after."
Rob inherited his interest in the sport from his father, who is a plumbing and heating engineer; John started co-driving in 1986, and finished second-placed co-driver in the 1992 Shell Skoda Trophy - a one-make competition for Skoda Favorits. In the same year, he also finished the demanding Lombard RAC Rally, Britain's round of the World Rally Championship in the same Skoda, overcoming a host of problems from broken windscreen wipers to suspension and failed electrics.

The headline facts about Rally Barbados 2005:
+ at closing date, the entry stood at 82 cars
+ this includes nine WRC-specification cars, more than ever before
+ competitors come from 12 countries, including host nation Barbados, with 54 overseas drivers or co-drivers on the list
+ they will tackle 26 special stages, totalling 130.60 kilometres (81.15 miles)
+ more than 50 different models from 20 manufacturers are listed in the entry
+ numerically, Toyota is the strongest marque, with 20 cars, while Ford is also in double figures, at 15 entries

Rally Barbados 2005 is organised by the Barbados Rally Club in association with Automotive Art Shell, Banks Breweries, Da Costa Mannings Autocentre, DMS Distributors.com, McEnearney Quality, Simpson Motors, Texaco West Indies and Total Sport. The event is supported by Abacus Builders, The Boatyard, Nassco, SBI Distributors, Stoute's Car Rental and Williams Equipment. The Vaucluse Raceway International RallySprint is organised by the Vaucluse Raceway Motorsport Club.