Rally

  Two former winners of the Barbados Rally Club’s (BRC) premier event started their preparations for Sol Rally Barbados 2013 in perfect fashion at the weekend. Victories for Jamaica’s Jeff Panton in Trinidad and local ace Paul Bourne in Barbados have kick started two months of debate across the region on the prospects for Sol RB13 (June 1/2).

Two Irish drivers who made their Caribbean debuts last year are among the six entries from the ‘Emerald Isle’ now confirmed for Sol Rally Barbados 2013 (June 1/2). Their addition to the on-line entry list on the official web site, www.rallybarbados.net, boosts the four-wheel-drive entry to 18, more than half that number in the WRC classes.

Britain’s Nigel Worswick and Lindsey Pilkington will contest Sol Rally Barbados (June 1/2) for the third time this year, determined to put to good use the lessons learned on their previous two visits. His entry for the Worswick Engineering Ford Escort Mark II brings to 16 the number of International crews confirmed for the Caribbean’s biggest annual motor sport international, with further announcements in the pipeline.

Despite the established worldwide appeal of Sol Rally Barbados, the Caribbean’s biggest annual motor sport International, the event’s organiser, the Barbados Rally Club (BRC), has not lost track of its roots. As the Club begins its 56th season, members were reminded of the importance of its history in grass roots motor sport at the Club’s AGM last Friday (March 8).   In his annual address, out-going Chairman Geoff Noel told members at the Barbados Clay Target Shooting Association (BCTSA) Clubhouse at Searles, Christ Church: “We have history, lots of it!