BRITISH BROTHERS FOR SOL RALLY BARBADOS

Second-generation British motor sport competitors, brothers Oliver and Philip Hopkins, will both compete in Sol Rally Barbados 2015 (May 29-31), when the Barbados Rally Club (BRC) celebrates the 25th Anniversary of its first International All-Stage Rally . . . but they will not be sitting in the same car.

Philip is already confirmed as co-driver in Kevin Procter’s Subaru Impreza WRC S7, in which the pair finished seventh overall and second in WRC-2 last year; younger brother Oliver will campaign his Hopkins Motorsport/Dan Cuff Motor Engineering Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VI in Group A, with co-driver Ashley Trimble.

The family’s involvement in motor sport – and the basis of the family business, too - goes back more than 30 years, when father Reg competed in The European Truck Racing Championship. While he raced across Europe, often away from home for weeks at a time, he realised how much of a team’s budget could be saved by replacing expensive hotels and the cost of feeding personnel at race circuits with a purpose-built vehicle.

From their first transporter, designed to move the racing truck and ancillary equipment and to provide accommodation and catering for 10 people, the family business Hopkins Motorsport has developed into one of the leading suppliers of bespoke transporters and hospitality units in British and European motor sport.

While elder brother Philip raced from 1993 in Formula Ford, then in Formula 3 and GTs, with the Bristol-based family creating the transporter necessary to suit each racing programme, Oliver has only recently started to compete: “I always played younger brother to Philip, before I started competing in 2013. I started rallying with Philip as my navigator, and we won our third-ever rally, a single venue event.”

Shortly after, the brothers competed in a tarmac event on the notorious high-speed Epynt Ranges in Wales, where things did not go so well. Oliver explains: “On stage two, we developed a misfire and, as a result of losing concentration and, with limited experience, we rolled four times. We bought a second Evo, with a large spares package to help re-build our original car. During the rebuild I drove the new Evo on the Regency Stages and finished third overall.”

Oliver went back to the venue last year to lay the ghost of his huge accident: “With the old car rebuilt, I returned for the Tour of Epynt, just to conquer my fear. I wanted to go and finish and, with co-driver David Tortoishell, we did - 49th overall.”

In 2014, Ashley Trimble joined Oliver as co-driver, since when top 10 finishes have become the norm. Trimble’s background includes victory in the 2009 Yokohama 205 Challenge as co-driver to Russ Thompson, the runner-up spot in the 2009 MSA REIS Asphalt Rally Championship sitting with Graham Hollis, and a string of overall wins with drivers including Ford Escort aces Simon Mauger and Mark Solloway.

With both Evos now running, the Hopkins brothers competed on the recent Brean Stages (January 24/25), a single-venue tarmac event in Somerset, Philip finishing seventh and Oliver 10th. All was not plain sailing, though, as Oliver explains: “Day one was very challenging, with fierce competition and a very damp slippy course. On stage five we clipped a concrete barrel, which bent a rear wishbone. This slowed us down, as the car was now fantastic on right-hand bends, but sketchy on left-handers. With a new wishbone, day two was better, until we snapped a front drive-shaft on stage 11, when we were eighth. Despite the time lost on the final stage, we finished 10th overall.”

Bird chasing hat-trick on North West Stages live on-line

Double Sol Rally Barbados winner Paul Bird is chasing a hat-trick of wins on the Legend Fires North West Stages Rally, being contested in and around the famous British seaside resort of Blackpool tonight (Friday) and tomorrow. Co-driver in his Ford Focus WRC08 this weekend will be Andrew Roughhead.

As the winner for the last two years, when his co-driver was Barbados regular Aled Davies, ‘Birdy’ is seeded at one, with another long-term supporter of Sol RB, Kevin Procter, at two in his Subaru Impreza S7, co-driven this year by Ian Jackson. Procter won the event in 2011, with Dave Bellerby in the co-driver’s seat.

Rally fans will be able to watch live stage action on-line from Blackpool in what is said to be the first initiative of its kind in British club rallying; motor sport specialists AMGTV will broadcast a live stream on both days, available by a view on demand option through the AMGTV web site (www.amgtv.co.uk).

When the Red Kite Stages launched the UK Historic rallying season last Sunday (February 1), Sol RB competitors Rupert Lomax (Ford Escort MkII) and Steve Perez (Lancia Stratos) each finished second in class, Lomax also an impressive ninth overall. Perez finished 27th, the icy conditions less than ideal for his iconic rear-engined machine. Warren Philliskirk, who will tackle Sol RB for the first time this year, was 15th in his Ford Escort RS1800, finishing fifth in class, while brothers Phil and Mick Squires (Escort MkII) finished 32nd and third in class.

Sol Rally Barbados and the King of the Hill shakedown event are organised by the Barbados Rally Club, which was founded in 1957; Sol RB15 marks the 25th Anniversary of the Club’s annual International All-Stage Rally and the eighth year of title sponsorship by the Sol Group, the Caribbean’s largest independent oil company.