Second-highest entry in 34 years for BCIC RB24
The provisional entry list for the Caribbean’s biggest annual motor sport international lists more than 100 local, regional and international rally crews for only the second time in its 34-year history. With a new title sponsor, BCIC Rally Barbados 2024 has attracted 103 entries, the most in 12 years, including the first Volkswagen Polo GTi R5 to compete in the island, being flown in by returning Irish driver Barry McKenna.
The entry list was revealed at a Media Briefing in the Open-Air Suites at Bushy Park Barbados on Friday (May 10), along with a major shake-up of the event format, flipping the traditional Saturday north/Sunday south running order. BCIC RB24 (May 31-June 2) is the 34th edition of the Barbados Rally Club’s (BRC) premier event which has its roots in the International All-Stage Rally of 1990. The Rally Show and First Citizens King of the Hill (KotH) will be staged on May 25 and 26.
McKenna’s entry is one of the last four confirmed today (May 10), along with Jersey’s Darryl Morris who will campaign the Skoda Fabia R5 formerly driven by Britain’s Rob Swann, bringing the entry in the FIA R5 class to 15. Both McKenna, a regular podium finisher in rallies in North America, and Morris last competed in the island in Ford Escort MkIIs, McKenna third in the Sunday Cup in 2016, Morris 17th overall and second in SuperModified 2 in 2019.
Two further entries from Ireland are also confirmed, bringing the number of overseas drivers and co-drivers entered to 65, 15 of them new to the event: returnee Martin Donnelly brings a MkII Escort following earlier visits with a Mitsubishi Lancer Evo XI and Toyota Corolla WRC, and newcomer Gary Smith has a Honda Civic.
BCIC RB24 will open with two floodlit stages at Bushy Park Barbados on the Friday night (May 31), either side of a run through nearby Featherbed Lane. Saturday’s nine stages will be at three high-speed venues in the south-east of the island and Sunday’s on the more technical stages in the north, with the Final Stage and Rally Finish at the Vaucluse Raceway. While the venues are familiar, there have been tweaks to layout, direction or distance at all of them since last year.
At the Briefing Meeting, BCIC RB24 Event Director Neil Barnard was joined on the top table by Lori-Ann Glasgow, General Manager, Marketing BCIC, Claire Jordan, CEO of First Citizens Bank Barbados, title sponsor of King of the Hill for the third year, and Barbados Tourism Marketing Inc’s (BTMI) Sports Manager Kamal Springer.
Barnard said: “We are so grateful for the support of all our sponsors and partners and I am so excited to welcome our new title sponsor BCIC. It would be remiss of me not to thank Sol who have partnered with the Club and the event for several years. Huge thanks to our King of The Hill sponsor, First Citizens, for their enthusiasm and willingness to support and embrace the sport, Barbados Tourism Marketing Inc, the Tourism Development Corporation, also Bushy Park Barbados, where we are sitting now, for their commitment to this event.”
For BCIC, Lori-Ann Glasgow said: “Our milestone partnership with Rally Barbados is a bold statement of BCIC's commitment to innovation and pushing boundaries. We are not just challenging the status quo; we are redefining it! We have never partnered with an event quite like this, but in the seven years we have been in Barbados, we know how much Rally Barbados means to Bajans.”
First Citizens CEO Claire Jordan said: “Motorsport in Barbados is more than a sporting competition, given its popularity with the crowds, it’s more a cultural and community event, bringing people together in a spirit of camaraderie. This is what is makes it so unique! We look forward to an exciting King of the Hill.”
Citing the extensive global coverage and economic impact on the event, the BTMI’s Kamal Springer said: “We look forward to keep supporting this event for a long time.”
Barnard added: “Rallying cannot happen without the cooperation of the people of Barbados. We know that every year we attract hundreds of competitors and fans to our island and there are thousands of local rally fans that come out to watch the action, but we must respect the people and communities that we rally within. That respect and cooperation is essential to the sustainability of our sport.”
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.
For further media information: e-mail - robin@bradfax.com
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BCIC RALLY BARBADOS 2024
Provisional entry list at May 10
+ some classifications may be subject to scrutineering
Key to nationalities (competitor from Barbados unless shown):
ANT – Antigua & Barbuda; CDN – Canada; ENG – England; IRL – Republic of Ireland; JAM – Jamaica; JER – Jersey; LCA – St Lucia; SCO – Scotland; TCI – Turks & Caicos; T&T – Trinidad & Tobago; USA – United States of America; WAL – Wales
WRC
Joe Cunningham – ENG/Josh Beer - ENG (Ford Fiesta WRC)
Fraser Louden – SCO/Ashleigh Will (F) - SCO (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo Proto)
Kevin Procter – ENG/Patrick Walsh - WAL (Ford Fiesta S2000T)
Dane Skeete/Tyler Mayhew (Subaru Impreza WRC S12)
FIA R5
Roger Duckworth – ENG/Alun Cook - WAL (Ford Fiesta R5)
Kyle Gregg – JAM/Orry Hunte (Ford Fiesta Rally2)
Roger Hill/Graham Gittens (Skoda Fabia R5)
Paul Horton - TCI/Matt Edwards - WAL (Citroen C3 Rally2)
Adam Mallalieu/Steve McNulty - ENG (Ford Fiesta R5)
Andrew Mallalieu/Geoff Goddard (Ford Fiesta R5)
Mark Maloney/Justin Maloney (Skoda Fabia Rally2 evo)
Stuart Maloney/Kristian Yearwood (Skoda Fabia RS Rally2)
Barry McKenna – IRL/Andy Hayes - IRL (Volkswagen Polo GTi R5)
Darryl Morris – JER/Stephen Bell (Skoda Fabia R5)
Jeffrey Panton – JAM/Michael Fennell Jnr – JAM (Skoda Fabia Rally2 evo)
Josh Read/Mark Jordan (Ford Fiesta R5)
George Sherman - USA/Scott Pinheiro – T&T (Ford Fiesta Rally2)
Rob Swann – ENG/Tom Woodburn - ENG (Skoda Fabia Rally2 evo)
Logan Watson/Kreigg Yearwood (Skoda Fabia Rally2 evo)
Modified 4
Ian Barclay – SCO/Sue Plater (F) – ENG (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX)
Nik Elsmore – ENG/Pauline Nash (F) - ENG (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX)
Peter Gallagher - IRL/Aliya Trotman (F) (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VI)
Kyle Catwell/Kayleigh Catwell (F) (Audi TT-R)
Kurt Thompson/Adam Straker (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX)
Mark Thompson/Ron Greaves (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX)
SuperModified 2 (1601cc and over)
Wayne Archer/Castara Waterman (F) (BMW)
Calvin Briggs/Fabian Morris (Ford Sierra)
Horatio Brown – JAM/Leslie Evanson (F) (Citroen C2)
Phil Burton – ENG/Dylan Thomas – WAL (Ford Escort MkII)
Ross Callender/Damien Castillo-Marshall (Toyota Starlet)
Daryl Clarke/Nigel Reece (Suzuki Swift RS)
Derek Edwards/Damien Johnson (BMW Compact)
Brian Gill/Mark-Anthony Hinkson (BMW M3)
Graham Haigh – ENG/Kari Bates (F) – ENG (Ford Escort MkII)
Paul Inniss/Ryan O Wood (Honda Civic)
Andrew Jones/Lindsey Pilkington (F) – ENG (Ford Escort MkII)
Mark Kinch/Natasha Farnum (F) (BMW Compact)
Adrian Linton/Dominic Linton (Vauxhall Astra VXR)
Barry Mayers/Ben Norris (Ford Fiesta)
Roger Mayers/Barry Ward (Toyota WR Starlet)
Stuart McChlery/Julian Goddard (Ford Escort MkI)
Stewart Morrison – SCO/Johnny Baird - IRL (Ford Escort MkII)
Rhett Watson/Sam Sperring – ENG (BMW M3)
Nigel Worswick – ENG/Rachael Chandler (F) (Ford Escort MkII)
SuperModified 1 (up to 1600cc)
Fabien Clarke/Arlington Hoyte (Suzuki Ignis Sport)
Andre Corbin/Mark Brome (Toyota Corolla)
Edward Corbin/Johnathan Alleyne (Daihatsu Charmant)
Jason Cozier/Alexis Jordan (F) (Ford Escort MkI)
Carlos Edwards/Jacob Richards (Citroen C2R2 MAX)
Tremaine Forde-Catwell/Shane Haynes (Daihatsu Charmant)
Chadane Holder/Shaquille Mayers (Toyota Starlet)
Roger Jordan/Ian Griffith (Toyota Starlet)
Darren Lashley/Jason Harewood (Toyota Starlet)
Winston Thompson/Troy Toppin (Toyota Starlet)
Modified 3 (2001cc and over)
Kevin Armstrong/Kareem Gaskin (BMW)
Justin Campbell/Ayrton Bannister (BMW M3)
Mark Chandler – ENG/Charlotte Mcglashan (F) – ENG (Ford Escort MkII)
Martin Donnelly – IRL/Liam Ryan – IRL (Ford Escort MkII)
Ahmed Esuf/Ryan Ali (BMW M3)
Suleman Esuf/Asif Suleman (BMW 1M)
Stuart Garcia/Rasheed Smith (BMW Compact)
David Husbands/Ryan Carrington (BMW M3)
David St Hill/Ian Grimes (BMW M3)
Jonathan Still/Heath Hazell (BMW M3)
Bradley Weekes/Noah White (BMW)
Modified 2 (1601 to 2000cc)
Pierre Clarke/Ezra Gibbs (Honda Civic)
Neil Corbin/Matthew Staffner (Toyota GT86 CS-R3)
Sean Corbin/Emily Kinch (F) (BMW 318ti Compact)
Jonathan Haynes – ENG/Joshua Plaza – T&T (Ford Focus)
Gary Smith - IRL/Lorcan Moore - IRL (Honda Civic)
Cheryl Spencer (F) - ENG/Barry Spencer - ENG (Vauxhall Astra GSi)
Chris Ullyett/Chantal Ullyett (F) - CDN (Ford Escort Cosworth RS2000)
Michael Worme/Jason King (BMW 318ti Compact)
Historic 2 (1601cc and over)
Dick Mauger – ENG/Liz Jordan (F) - ENG (Ford Escort MkII RS1800)
Harold Morley/Kenny McGuire - SCO (Porsche 911RS)
Chris Shooter - ENG/Bev LeGood (F) – ENG (Ford Escort MkII)
Historic 1 (up to 1600cc)
Robin Hamilton – SCO/Vanessa Hamilton (F) – SCO (Ford Escort MkI)
Mick Smith – IRL/Andy Darlington – WAL (Sunbeam Imp)
Clubman 3 (2001 to 3000cc)
Karl Bovell/Destiny Prescod (F) (BMW 325)
Clubman 2 (1601 to 2000cc)
Joel Anthony – LCA/Alex Kirton (BimmaCup)
David-Anthony Balgobin/Ali Nurse (BimmaCup)
Jason Downey/Kristina Pinto (F) (BimmaCup)
Stewart Gordon - ANT/Rene Forde (BimmaCup)
Chris Hoad/Alan Alkins (BimmaCup)
Spencer Hutchinson/Gayle Hutchinson (F) (BimmaCup)
Allan Kinch/Kyle Proverbs (BimmaCup)
Nick Morley - ENG/tbc (BimmaCup)
Ryan Pinheiro – T&T/Elijah Marshall (BimmaCup)
Russell Smith - ENG/Dwayne Forde (BimmaCup)
Natya Soodeen (F)/Sameisha Williams (F) (BimmaCup)
Savio Walcott/Toure Nurse (BimmaCup)
Robert Ryan Wood/Tristan Mapp (BimmaCup)
Clubman 1 (up to 1600cc)
Shawn Brathwaite/Johnathan King (Toyota Corolla)
Kyle Gill/Rashid Phillips (Mitsubishi Mirage RS Clone)
Wayne Tasker/Antonio Springer (Opel Corsa B)
Jason Tull/Omar Archer (Peugeot 106 Rallye S2)
Group B
Andrew Costin-Hurley - ENG/Rob Brook - ENG (Ford Puma Cosworth)
Shon Cummins/Jason Harris (BMW 316)
Mark Huggins/Kye Ifill (Daihatsu Charmant)
Craig Murray/Curtis Greaves (BMW)
Martin Stockdale – ENG/Graeme Wood - ENG (BMW 1M Coupe)
Tom Stockdale – ENG/Neil Chambers – ENG (BMW Compact)
Shareef Walcott/Justin Lynch (Toyota Corolla)
For media information only. No regulatory value.
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