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Jamaica’s Jeffrey Panton and Michael Fennell Jnr survived a late-afternoon scare on the final day of Sol Rally Barbados 2017 (June 2-4) to claim a hat-trick of victories in their Ford Focus WRC06, leading home only the fourth podium lock-out by overseas competitors in the 28-year history of the Barbados Rally Club’s (BRC) blue riband event. Despite a heavy hit on the final pass through Padmore, costing 15 seconds compared with their previous run, they had built up a sufficient margin to win by 1m 15.69s.

Jamaica’s Jeffrey Panton and Michael Fennell Jnr are top seeds for the Barbados Rally Club’s (BRC) premier event for the first time. Their Rubis/Sandals Barbados/KIG Ford Focus WRC06 will carry number one when they set off from tomorrow’s (Friday) Ceremonial Start at Sol Warrens, leading an international field of 88 cars, with a record 17 countries represented in Sol Rally Barbados.

Key to nationalities (competitor from Barbados unless shown): ENG – England; FRA – France; GUY – Guyana; JAM – Jamaica; MTQ – Martinique; NED – The Netherlands; NZL – New Zealand; SCO – Scotland; T&T – Trinidad & Tobago; USA – United States of America; WAL – Wales

1st Jeffrey Panton – JAM/Michael Fennell Jnr – JAM (Rubis/Sandals Barbados/KIG Ford Focus WRC06), 2m 46.45s

2nd Rob Swann – ENG/Darren Garrod - WAL (Elegant Hotels/Blue Sky Luxury/Cygnet Plant Subaru Impreza WRC S12B), + 02.50s

Major changes to the route for Sol Rally Barbados 2017, including two night-time stages on Friday, June 2, within the longest event run since 2004, have been given the ‘thumbs up’ by two of the potential contenders for outright victory. Thirteen-time winner Roger Skeete described the opening stages as “fantastic”, a view shared by regular British visitor Rob Swann, who finished second to Skeete in 2014.