MEEKE PICKS SOL RALLY BARBADOS PRIZE MARSHALS

Citroen World Rally Championship driver Kris Meeke says every rally fan should visit Sol Rally Barbados “at least once”. The Ulsterman made the remark when he joined the Circuit of Ireland’s Chief Marshal Raymond Linton last week to pick the names of two motor sport volunteers who will enjoy a trip to Sol RB16 next month (June 3-5) out of the prestigious Ulster Automobile Club Trophy.

  Double winner of the Barbados Rally Club’s premier event with co-driver Paul Nagle in 2008 & ’09, Meeke was home in Dungannon after launching the test and development programme of Citroen Racing’s new WRC contender in France, then doing the recce for Rally Argentina, the event at which he claimed his first WRC victory last year.

  He said: “It's brilliant to reward a couple of Circuit of Ireland marshals. I hope the people who have won have never been before. It's definitely something that everyone should do at least once. Sol Rally Barbados is a great event, but it's not just the event, it's everything else that goes with it . . . the sunshine, the atmosphere and the people.

  “People think Irish rallying is laid back, but out there it's unbelievable! It was nice to be invited to do it and it holds a special place for me. I got to know a lot of the locals and [Rally Chairman] Mark Hamilton still keeps in touch with me. Hopefully, in the future, I'll be able to go back."

  Nicole Adair and Julie Edghill were chosen from around 800 marshals who worked on this year’s ‘Circuit’ (April 8/9) to win return flights from London Gatwick to Barbados, accommodation and rental car, plus VIP hospitality, courtesy of the Barbados Rally Club and the Tourism Development Corporation. Both are from County Down: Adair, from Portavogie, marshalled on the Cairncastle stage while Edghill, who lives in Carryduff, was at the start of the Hamilton’s Folly stage, as well as in Bushmills for the regroup.

  Adair, who will be making the trip with her partner Winston Murdoch – they marshalled together at Cairncastle – said: “I had only just started a new job the Monday a few days before I heard I’d won the prize, but everyone has been so very helpful. We have bought a second ticket, so that we can make what sounds like a fabulous trip together.”

  Edghill first fell into motor sport while working in London, as a colleague marshalled at Brands Hatch; she became Chief Paddock Marshal before moving to Race Control, then also became involved with what was then known as the RAC Rally. She and her partner John Cunningham are Treasurer and Chairman respectively of the Northern Ireland region of the British Motorsport Marshals’ Club.

  Of her prize trip, she said: “I was absolutely stunned when I found out I’d won. I was told that Raymond Linton had been trying to contact me at work – sometimes we can’t answer our phones straight away - as my name had been pulled out of the hat for the Sol Rally Barbados trip. I was just so excited about it! It will be lovely to go over to see how they do things there.”

Rally Club praises smooth Bridgetown Port operation

Early last Saturday, the Geest Line freighter Benguela Stream docked at the Bridgetown Port to off-load a record number of 32 rally cars, an operation which Sol RB16 Rally Office Manager Jeanne Crawford says went extremely smoothly: “I must thank the officers of Barbados Port Inc, the Barbados Customs & Excise Department and the guys in Shed 4 for the whole day going so well. Clearing the Port also went well, with all the cars tucked up in Rally Central by the end of Thursday.

  “Thanks also to Rally Club members Dave Crawford, Roger Hill and Barry Mayers for spending a lot of time in the heat below decks on the Benguela, and Graham Gittens, Mark Hamilton, Clive Howell and Stuart White, who must also have lost more than a few pounds pushing rally cars around on the dock.”

Sol Rally Barbados briefs:

• Monday’s announcement that WRC 2 points leader Elfyn Evans will be competing in Flow King of the Hill (May 29) and Sol RB16 (June 3-5) in a Ford Fiesta R5 Evo has garnered huge coverage for the region’s biggest annual motor sport international in print and on-line media worldwide in recent days. It was the lead story on the home page of both the World Rally Championship and British Rally Championship web sites, was included in the news pages of the UK’s widely-read weekly Motorsport News and appeared on web sites and Facebook pages from Belgium through France to Poland . . .

• the Sol RB16 promo video, which was launched at Monday’s Media Briefing, had enjoyed 10,000 views within the first 24 hours, and has now been watched more than 41,000 times as the week has progressed . . .

Sol Rally Barbados (June 3-5) and Flow King of the Hill (May 29) are organised and promoted by the Barbados Rally Club, which will celebrate its 60th Anniversary in 2017; title sponsors are the Sol Group and Flow. Marketing partners are Simpson Motors, Automotive Art and Banks; official partners are Accra Beach Hotel & Spa, the Barbados Hotel & Tourism Association, Barbados Tourism Marketing Inc, Geest Line and the Tourism Development Corporation; associate sponsors are Chefette and Stoute’s Car Rental.