DUCKWORTH CONFIRMS SOL RALLY BARBADOS TRIP

Within a week of winning last month’s Rallye Sunseeker National on England’s south coast, Roger Duckworth confirmed that he and co-driver Aled Davies would definitely be taking up their prize drive on Sol Rally Barbados 2011 (June 4/5); the 1998 UK National Rally Champion’s entry brings to seven the number of cars currently confirmed in the WRC class, with two months to go before entries close.  Duckworth’s victory was his third on Rallye Sunseeker – he also won in 1998 and 2004 – bringing him level with Trevor Smith’s three in 1989, ’91 and ’92; even adding their successes together, however, they still can’t match multiple National Champion Marcus Dodd’s remarkable seven Sunseeker wins claimed between 1999 and 2010.    The prize trip to the Caribbean island includes free entry and shipping from the Barbados Tourism Authority (BTA), plus flights on Virgin Atlantic, accommodation and rental car from the Barbados Rally Club (BRC); it was presented during the Richard Burns Foundation Charity Dinner and Auction in the Rallye Sunseeker HQ hotel by Petra Roach, BTA vice-president, marketing & sales UK, and Aymara Cummins, representing the BRC and the Sol Group.    In a rallying career which started in 1989, Duckworth has competed in a variety of marques, including Daihatsu and Ford – he had an extremely rapid Ford Sierra 4 x 4 – but, since 1997, has remained faithful to Subaru. He finished 11th overall and highest-placed amateur in Britain’s round of the World Rally Championship (WRC), then known as the Network Q RAC Rally, in his first season in an Autosportif-built Impreza 555, then won the Mintex National Rally Championship the following year in the same car.    After a couple of quiet seasons, while he concentrated on building his new business, Duckworth returned in the ex-Prodrive Impreza WRC, that Colin McRae had driven to victory the ’97 Network Q. That has since been replaced by another former Prodrive Impreza, driven by Juha Kankkunen and also a Pirelli test car, while Duckworth has remained a loyal customer of British preparation company Autosportif for 15 years.    He has rarely competed overseas – in Ireland, he tackled the 1990 Rally of the Lakes in the Daihatsu, then the Cork 20 in the Subaru in 2007 – but did contest the World Championship TPA Rallye du Portugal in 2000 and ’01; although he finished neither, he was leading the amateur category on his second visit until an electrical problem on day two resulted in his retirement.   Roger is the son of the late Keith Duckworth, who co-founded Cosworth – creator of the renowned DFV Formula 1 engine - in the late 1950s with Mike Costin. He worked for the company for many years, until establishing his own engineering consultancy, Integral Powertrain Ltd, with colleagues from Cosworth.   He lists swimming and water sports among his hobbies, so a trip to the Caribbean is just up his street. Commenting on the prize, he said: “I'd heard the event was great fun, but the disruption to my normal rally championship season meant I didn't give it much thought in the past. This year, however, my rallying as well as my holiday plans are more fluid, so the timing couldn't have been any better - I'm looking forward to a fabulous trip to Barbados, and sampling the island’s roads and culture."   Lucky 13 for European returnees?   Group B in Sol RB2011 promises to be a lively contest once again, including two regular European visitors who will be clocking up 13 visits between them this year – and both have won the Group in the past - England’s Andrew Costin-Hurley (2007 & ‘08) and Holland’s Frans Verbaas (2010).  Costin-Hurley also has a link to prize-winner Duckworth - his wife Melissa was the daughter of Frank Costin, brother to Mike, Keith Duckworth’s partner in Cosworth. He will once again campaign his self-built Earl’s Performance Hoses-backed Cosworth-powered Ford Puma, and will become the longest-established car-driver combination among the European visitors. His seventh co-driver in eight visits will be Rob Brook, also a veteran of Barbados events.  Holland’s Verbaas is returning for the fifth time, and the third in his Verbaas Preparations/Koni Austin Mini Cooper, the car he created for Sol RB2009 to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the Mini.   Sol Rally Barbados (June 4/5, 2011) and Shell V-Power King of the Hill (May 29) are organised by the Barbados Rally Club, which celebrated its 50th Anniversary in 2007; Sol RB2011 is the 22nd running of the Club’s annual International All-Stage Rally and marks the start of a second three-year term of title sponsorship by the Sol Group, the Caribbean’s largest independent oil company.   For further media information: e-mail - robin@bradfax.com web site: www.rallybarbados.bb