News

SOL RALLY BARBADOS 2016

At a glance

New for 2016

• the finish of Sol Rally Barbados returns to the Vaucluse Raceway in St Thomas for the first time since 2007, with a SuperSpecial on the RallySprint track. Cars will run head-to-head and, although times will not be included in the results for Sol RB16, crews must take the start to be classified as overall finishers . . .

The Geest Line freighter Benguela Stream set sail from Portsmouth on the English south coast late on Tuesday (April 26) after two nights in port exchanging fruit and other produce from around the Caribbean for a record shipment of 32 rally cars bound for the region’s biggest annual motor sport International, Sol Rally Barbados . . . and local fans will be happy to know that 13 of those cars are Ford Escort MkIIs.

On his first competitive outing at the wheel of his recently-acquired Elegant Hotels/Blue Sky Luxury Subaru Impreza WRC S12B, Britain’s Rob Swann won yesterday’s (Sunday) Sunoco Shakedown Stages. With co-driver Sean Gill, he won eight of the day’s 10 stages, claiming victory by just over 13 seconds from Josh Read, who won an intense see-saw two-wheel-drive battle.

Seeded at number one for Sunday’s (April 24) Sunoco Shakedown Stages, ahead of Roger Hill, Britain’s Rob Swann starts his final preparations for Sol Rally Barbados 2016. Driving his recently-acquired Subaru Impreza WRC S12B in anger for the first time, the 10-stage event presents an ideal chance for a warm-up before Flow King of the Hill and the Barbados Rally Club’s (BRC) premier event over the next six weeks.