Rally

Four runs over a demanding new course combining sweeping high-speed sections, crests and a steep, technical climb through tight uphill hairpins will decide which driver from a first-rate field of local, regional and international Champions wins Sunday’s (June 4) First Citizens King of the Hill. More than 80 crews are listed on the running order published today (Thursday) for the final shakedown before Sol Rally Barbados 2023 (June 9-11), the 33rd edition of the Barbados Rally Club’s premier event.

Key to nationalities (competitor from Barbados unless shown): ANT – Antigua & Barbuda; CDN – Canada; ENG – England; GUY – Guyana; IRL – Republic of Ireland; JAM – Jamaica; NZL – New Zealand; SCO – Scotland; T&T – Trinidad & Tobago; TCI – Turks & Caicos; USA – United States of America; WAL – Wales

Overall

Some of the island’s leading rally crews will go head-to-head at Bushy Park Barbados on Saturday (June 3) at The Rally Show, which will include a competitive element for the first time. In an echo of this year’s innovative Sol Rally Barbados safety video, the Carter’s Shopping Cart Challenge will allow them to let off some steam in a fun environment ahead of the island’s two biggest annual weekends of motor sport, First Citizens King of the Hill (June 4) and Sol Rally Barbados 2023 (Jun 9-11).

National and international champions from circuit racing, rallying and rallycross from Barbados, the wider Caribbean and further afield are gathering for the highlight of the Barbados Motoring Federation’s (BMF) 2023 R5 Rally Championship presented by First Citizens. Cars from overseas were off-loaded from containers at Bushy Park Barbados on Wednesday to await the arrival of their crews for First Citizens King of the Hill (June 4) and Sol Rally Barbados 2023 (June 9-11).

There will be a major uptick in worldwide media coverage for Sol Rally Barbados (June 9-11) and its ‘Motorsport Island’ home this year, as a combination of factors converge to further consolidate the event’s already robust international reputation. It has been included on the calendar of the TER World Series, a new-for-2023 extension of the Tour European Rally Series, whose promoters blend sports reporting with coverage of each rally location’s tourism sector in global broadcast and online coverage.

The first two weekends of June are crucial for competitors seeking to win the coveted Barbados Rally Club (BRC) Champion Driver trophy. The points to be scored at First Citizens King of the Hill (June 4) and Sol Rally Barbados 2023 (June 9-11) represent just over one-third of the total for the year, so nothing can be left to chance in the two marquee events in the Club’s seven-round championship.

Top Two-Wheel-Drive in Sol Rally Barbados is an accolade fought over with as much commitment and determination as overall victory and means every bit as much to the protagonists as well. Just ask Justin Campbell, 14th overall and top 2wd in Sol RB22 in his BMW M3 with co-driver Ayrton Bannister, who said afterwards: “It was the closest feeling I think I could get to winning Sol Rally Barbados.”

FIA winners Maloney and Paddon in 85-strong entry