BARBADOS RALLY CLUB SEASON KICKS OFF IN STYLE

The Barbados Rally Club (BRC) launches its 55th Anniversary season in style over the next two weekends. Competitors in high-tech rally machines, four-wheel-drive MudDogs off-roaders and ‘daily driver’ grass roots autocross cars will kick off their 2012 campaigns, with spectators expected in large numbers, hungry for action after the motor sport drought of the winter months.   The BRC Autocross Championship gets under way at Bushy Park, St Philip, on Saturday (March 10), where the first of four rounds will run alongside Annual Scrutineering. Autocross Clerk of the Course Geoff Goddard comments: “The Club thinks that having our first event along with Scrutineering will give autocross more exposure to the general public and hopefully encourage more people to want to take part.” Scheduled start time is 2.00pm, after signing-on, scrutineering and a course walk.   The opening round of the Virgin Atlantic Driver’s and Class Championships will take place the following day (Sunday, March 11) in a double-header speed event organized by the Motoring Club of Barbados Inc (MCBI); run over a course from Wilson Hill to Malvern in St John, then reversed, it is slated to start at 10.00am.   Just a week later (Saturday, March 17), the BRC MudDogs Safari and Chefette MudDogs Safari Novice Championships kick off with the March Safari, which will run from Saturday afteroon into the night. MudDogs Chairman Warren Gollop comments: “It will likely be concentrated on the north of the island, but the current unseasonal rains and the start of the crop will mean that there will be changes and route-setting going on right down to the wire.”   At last week’s AGM, BRC Chairman Geoff Noel highlighted the major role played by Sol Rally Barbados in promoting the island worldwide: “We significantly improved on our existing marketing plans in Europe by partnering with the Tourism Development Corporation. The International TV coverage provided by GreenlightTV, with a total viewership of 771 million homes across the world, resulted in unprecedented exposure for the island and our rally - this achievement is truly phenomenal!”   He added: “Among the targets we set ourselves for 2011 was to continue to be pro-active in our approach to getting sponsorship for the Club. This is on-going and our success is evident in the continued commercial arrangements with our long-term partners. Noel did sound one cautionary note, however: “The current economic environment is having a negative effect, and it has become obvious that this may start to negatively impact our partners’ ability to maintain their previous level of funding for 2012. Therefore, we are hard at work ensuring that possible short-falls will not negatively affect the Club.”   Among the highlights of the evening was the announcement that long-standing Club stalwart Biddy Barber had been unanimously voted an Honorary Life Member. As a 17-year-old, the then Bridget Austin contested her first Rally Club event as a co-driver in the mid-1960s, before moving on to drive and, in more recent years, make a major contribution as a marshal and organiser, in particular encouraging greater participation in the sport by females.   Noel also thanked retiring Committee of Management member Paul Allen “for his sterling work as the equipment officer over the past few years” and made particular mention of Harry and Debbie Watkins, “who have notified the CoM that they will no longer be in a position to run Rally Control. For their tireless work and dedication to the Club over so many years, let’s give them a huge round of applause!”  With only minor changes voted for at the AGM, the full Barbados Rally Club Committee of Management for 2012 is: Chairman, Geoffrey Noel; Vice-Chairman, Mark Hamilton; Treasurer, Jeanne Crawford; Competition Secretary, Neil Corbin; Assistant Competition Secretary, Warren Gollop; Vehicle Classification Officer, Adrian Linton; Secretary, Jamal Brathwaite; Marshal Liaison Officer, Roger Hill; Equipment Officer, Roger Sargeant; Public Relations Officer, Neil Barnard; Entertainment Secretary, Sean Gill. Virgin Atlantic BRC Driver's & Class Championships BRC 2wd & 4wd Championships Rounds 1 & 2 - March 11 - Spring Blaze 1 & 2 (MCBI) Round 3 - May 6 - BRC Shakedown Stages Round 4 - June 3 - Shell V-Power King of the Hill Rounds 5 & 6 - June 9/10 - Sol Rally Barbados Round 7 - August 11 - BRC Summer Nights Tarmac Stages Round 8 & 9 - September 23 - BRC Autumn Gravel Sprint Rounds 10 - October 28 - BRC Winter Gravel Rally BRC MudDogs Safari Championship & Chefette MudDogs Safari Novice Championship Round 1 - March 17 - BRC MudDogs March Safari Round 2 - April 14 - Chefette April Safari MudFest - May 1 Round 3 - June 23/24 - BRC MudDogs June Safari Round 4 - September 16 - BRC MudDogs September Safari MudFest - October 20 Round 5 - November 11 - BRC MudDogs November Safari BRC Autocross Championship Round 1 - March 10 Round 2 - May 20 Round 3 - August 19 Round 4 - October 13 Media enquiries: e-mail – robin@bradfax.com Sol Rally Barbados web site – www.rallybarbados.bb