MAYERS BROTHERS RETURN IN SOL RALLY BARBADOS

Rally Barbados 2005 winner Roger Mayers and his brother Barry will return to island rallying for the first time in nearly five years when they share a BMW M3 in Sol Rally Barbados 2010 (May 29/30), which marks the 20th Anniversary of the inaugural running of the Barbados Rally Club’s (BRC) International All-Stage Rally.
They will compete in SuperModified 11 - with 16 entries, the event’s best-supported class - in the car in which Jonathan Still recorded a hat-trick of class wins over the past three years; their return is sponsored by Terra Caribbean and the Delaware Dispensary, with support from Illusion Graphics, redlinefuls.com and Quality Tyre . . . and, says Roger: “The goal is to finish as top two-wheel-drive car.”
Between them, the Mayers brothers claimed seven top 10 finishes in the island’s premier event between 2000 and ‘05; in addition to his victory (with Max Ferri in a Ford Focus), Roger had finished second overall (’02, Ford Escort Cosworth) and enjoyed class wins in 2000 (MG Metro 6R4) and 1999 (Toyota Starlet). Younger brother Barry finished in the top 10 and claimed Modified Open or SM11 class wins four times in his Starlet, culminating in fourth overall in ’05, the only two-wheel-drive car in the top 10.
Roger explained the background: “Barry and I were at a party and Stillo mentioned how he’d always dreamed of us driving his car. I said ‘Do you want to rent it for Rally Barbados?’ . . . and it went from there. Barry approached a lot of sponsors, and I’d lost all hope when we heard nothing. Then, at Barry’s wedding, Kathy-Dawn Burke got wind of it and jumped straight on it with Terra Caribbean; with some help from Delaware Dispensary, who support us at Bushy Park, and three additional sponsors, here we are!”
Mayers admits to a degree of apprehension: “I’m not worried about the speed, but there is certainly some rustiness, and it is a very foreign car. But once I put on the helmet and dump the clutch for the first run at King of the Hill, all that will disappear.”
When Barry returns from honeymoon, the brothers will fine-tune their plan of action, but Roger affirms: “The goal is to finish as top two-wheel-drive car. Its not going to be easy, the competition is fierce with people like Ian Warren, Josh Read, Mark Hamilton, but that is certainly the goal.”
And Mayers is right about the competition, particularly in SM11, which will have a new winner this year, after Still’s retirement from motor sport; from an island perspective, Mark Hamilton/Clive Howell (PowerMaster Batteries/Consolidated Finance/Valvoline Oil/Kumho Tires Ford Escort MkII) and Nick Gill/Sue Rogers (SDRR Hydraulics & Industrial Spares Inc/Hilti Tools Mazda 3) will certainly be in the thick of the action.
The BMW entry includes returnee (and former Group N winner) Brian Gill, co-driven in the Aqua Pur/Electric Avenue M3 by Avinash Chatrani, and Clan Cumberbatch (father St Elmo, sons Sammy and Owen): with co-driver Kelly-Ann Sandiford, Owen (Combo Auto Parts and Service M3), has the best record of the three so far this year, but both his brother (F Taylor Insurance/Williams Industries/AutoLink M3) and father (Carib Supply/F Taylor Insurance E36) have more experience, while Justin Campbell/Jermin Pope (C & C Autoservices/Cumberbatch Nurseries/Target Design Studio M3) will be in the mix.
The overseas challenge includes ex-pat Brit Harold Morley and local co-driver Geoff Goddard in the NET2VU Porsche GT3, while Martin Stockdale aims to mark his 10th rally in Barbados with a good result, co-driven in the Divi Southwinds Beach Resort/Drive-a-Matic Car Rentals BMW M3 Compact by Mark Swallow. Welsh crew Gary Thomas/Phil Ralphs (Tsalta Motorsport/Cam Sport Ford Escort G3) will be targetting the local Escorts of Calvin Briggs (Ultra Lubricants) and Graham Manning. Ireland’s Martin and Janet Taylor (Dublin Crystal BMW 325), Trinidad’s Franklyn Seegobin/Graveney Dindial (Daiman Publishers Ltd Toyota Corolla) and Rezan Mohammed/Arshad Mondro (Shell Helix Motor Oil Mitsubishi Mirage) complete a class with a truly international flavour.

Sol Rally Barbados 2010 (May 29/30) and Shell V-Power King of the Hill (May 23) are organised by the Barbados Rally Club, which celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2007; title sponsor is the Sol Group. Marketing partners are Simpson Motors, LIME, Automotive Art, Banks and Karcher; official partners are the Barbados Hotel & Tourism Association, Barbados Tourism Authority, Divi Southwinds Beach Resort, Geest Line and Virgin Atlantic Airways; associate sponsors are Stoute’s Car Rental, Glacial Pure, Chefette and Little Switzerland.

For further information:
media contact – robin@bradfax.com