STRONG BARBADOS TEAM FOR RALLY JAMAICA

Barbados will be represented by its strongest team yet when the Jamaica Millennium Motoring Club’s (JMMC) Rally Jamaica gets under way on Friday evening (December 5). Seven crews are entered, all of whom are either top 10 finishers or Group winners in Rally Jamaica over the past five years.
After Friday’s ‘Parc Expose’ and start at the National Stadium in Kingston, Rally Jamaica heads inland for Saturday’s stages through the abandoned Bauxite mines in Lydford and Reynolds, then Sunday’s runs through orange groves of Bog Walk, before returning to the capital Sunday evening.
While its members are competing, the Barbados Rally Club (BRC) is using the opportunity to launch the promotion of its premier event by offering free shipping and free entry to Sol Rally Barbados 2009 to the highest-placed Jamaican crews in both the four-wheel-drive and two-wheel-drive categories.
Chairman of the Sol Rally Barbados executive committee, Barry Gale, twice a top 10 finisher in Jamaica himself, will be making the trip this year as a spectator. He notes: “It will be an excellent marketing exercise for us and gives us an ideal opportunity to help foster the friendly rivalry between our two islands; our offer will have all of the Jamaican competitors talking about it and looking forward to it, and it will be fresh in their minds from December until May next year.”
Recently-crowned Overall Champion in the Virgin Atlantic BRC RallySport Championship Roger Skeete has come closest to victory in Jamaica, having finished second to Doug Gore in 2003 – driving the Michelin/FB Batteries Subaru Impreza WRC S9 in which Trinidad-based Jamaican John Powell finished second in Jamaica last year, Skeete will be hoping his partnership with co-driver Robert Simmons will prove to be the winning combination.
The similar Banks/Texaco/B-Mobile/Pirelli/New-Tech-sponsored car of Paul Bourne and Stuart Maloney is another which local fans hope can prevail, Bourne seeking to add a Jamaican victory to those in Rally Barbados (2003, 2007) and Rally Trinidad (2008). Third last year and fourth in 2003, he also has useful knowledge of the stages.
Bourne and Skeete run in JA9, the JMMC equivalent of the BRC’s M8-WRC category, and will have their work cut out for Group and Overall victory; Jamaica’s Gary Gregg – winner in Jamaica for the past three years in his ex-Carlos Sainz 2001 Ford Focus WRC, will be a major threat, as will five-time winner Jeffrey Panton, who now has an ex-works Focus of the same vintage, formerly campaigned by Colin McRae.
Also in the mix is Mexico’s Ricardo Trivino, with Spanish co-driver Checo Salom in their 2003 Peugeot 206 WRC; although it is the crew’s first visit to Jamaica, their previous experience in World Championship events – Trivino lost a creditable eighth place on Corona Rally Mexico this year to disqualification for wearing the wrong safety gear – will stand them in good stead.
Barbados is well-represented in Group N, or JN8 as it is known in Jamaica, with a trio of Subaru Imprezas. The newest of these, the latest N14, has recently been acquired by Harold Morley, who finished fourth in 2004, eighth in 2006 in his previous Impreza World Cars and was sixth overall and leading Group N before retirement last year; as usual, he will have the experienced Geoffrey Goddard co-driving.
Meanwhile, the crew which placed ninth overall last year, fourth in JN4, James Betts and Dean Serrao, will each drive an Impreza this year; Betts will be co-driven by Jeremy Gonsalves and Serrao by Clint Gregory.
On the two-wheel-drive front, Jonathan Still faces four local crews in JA4 in his Hitachi Power Tools/Ocean Spray/Philips Lighting/Crane & Equipments/Castrol Oils BMW M3; with regular co-driver Heath Hazell unable to make the trip, Still is aiming to repeat their Group win of 2006, this time co-driven by Jamaica’s David Anderson.
Last, but certainly not least – especially in the eyes of Jamaican fans – Sean Gill and Michael Cummins are entered in the Simpson Motors/Automotive Art/Shell V-Power/Yokohama Suzuki Swift. While he twice won his Group in the previous Ignis, Gill has posted dnfs on both visits with the Swift, although his impressive fourth overall on last year’s Friday night stages at the National Stadium will not be forgotten quickly. Jamaican rules require the Swift to add weight to run in the same Group as local cars, which Gill has decided against, saying: “I’m looking forward to see how far up the overall order we can get.” With 18 four-wheel-drive cars among the 44 confirmed entries, he should certainly enjoy himself.

Rally Jamaica 2008
Team Barbados
Paul Bourne/Stuart Maloney (JA9 Banks/Texaco/B-Mobile/Pirelli/New-Tech Subaru Impreza WRC S9)
Roger Skeete/Robert Simmons (JA9 Michelin/FB Batteries Subaru Impreza WRC S9)
James Betts/Jeremy Gonsalves (JN8 Subaru Impreza N9)
Harold Morley/Geoff Goddard (JN8 Subaru Impreza N14)
Dean Serrao/Clint Gregory (JN8 Subaru Impreza N12)
Sean Gill/Michael Cummins (JC1 Simpson Motors/Automotive Art/Shell V-Power/Yokohama Suzuki Swift)
Jonathan Still/David Anderson – JAM (JA4 Hitachi Power Tools/Ocean Spray/Philips Lighting/Crane & Equipments/Castrol Oils BMW M3)

For further information, robin@bradfax.com