First Citizens reaffirms King of the Hill sponsorship

The Barbados Rally Club (BRC) confirmed today (Friday) that the First Citizens Group will be title sponsor of King of the Hill (KotH) for the third year. The event, which will run on Sunday, May 26, uses a modified version of last year’s stage in the south-east corner of the island and also marks the launch of the Rally Experience, which will be sited at Society Plantation in St John.
  King of the Hill, which has been used since 2008 to seed the running order for Rally Barbados, was first sponsored by the First Citizens Group in 2022. The company has a wide footprint across the Eastern Caribbean in Barbados, St Lucia, St Vincent and the Grenadines, Costa Rica and its flagship location, Trinidad and Tobago.
  There have been some changes to the stage, as BCIC RB24 Event Director Neil Barnard explains: “"We are returning to the same stage we used last year - Palmers to Colleton, and the course is very similar. But we have moved the start forward by around 200 metres and have consequently lengthened the end, so competitors will now have to negotiate the tricky hairpin after Colleton Plantation finishing about 300 metres later. The stage is about 4kms in length and really has a bit of everything."
  The CEO of First Citizens, Claire Jordan said: “Since entering the rally scene in 2022, it has been a delight for our team to witness first-hand the development of this quality event over the years. From the organisation of the events to the passion and professionalism on display, it is a reflection of teamwork in vibrant living colour! Motorsport in Barbados is more than a sporting competition, given its popularity with the crowds, it’s more a community event. This is what is makes it so unique!”
  Last year, New Zealander Hayden Paddon became only the fourth driver in 15 years to win King of the Hill and Rally Barbados in the same year. Jamaican Jeff Panton achieved the feat three years in succession - 2016 thru’ 2018, although he tied for victory in KotH 2016 with Martinique’s Simon Jean-Joseph – while the late Paul Bird from the UK and local driver Roger Skeete did so once each in 2012 and 2011 respectively.
  Roger Mayers had to wait for his fifth 2wd KotH victory last year to go on and do the double, following his brother Barry (2018) and Sean Gill (2008). Neil Armstrong, however, has the best 2wd record, winning both KotH and Rally Barbados in 2011 and 2012, then going on to win KotH overall in a 4wd car in 2013.
  After the inaugural event in 2008 at Turners Hall in St Andrew, KotH moved venues, first to Stewarts Hill in St Philip, then Sailor Gully in St Peter, before finding a more permanent home on Hangmans Hill in St Thomas, where it ran from 2011 to 2018, apart from a switch to Luke Hill in St Lucy in 2013. After two years back at Stewarts Hill, the 2021 event was lost to the pandemic, then KotH 2022 ran in St Thomas before returning to the east of the island last year.

BCIC Rally Barbados (May 31-June 2) is a tarmac rally with around 20 special stages run on the island’s intricate network of public roads, under road closure orders granted by the Ministry of Transport, Works & Water Resources; the previous Sunday’s (May 26) First Citizens King of the Hill sprint, run under a similar arrangement, features four timed runs on a roughly four-kilometre stage, the results of which are used to seed the running order for the main event.

For media information only. No regulatory value.

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