Rally

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.

Sol Rally Barbados 2016 will return to Bushy Park in St Philip and repeat last year’s hugely-successful Friday evening start, with two special stages on the unique Race Of Champions parallel track. With only two of seven stage venues being used exactly as they were last year and the finish returning to the Vaucluse Raceway in St Thomas, competitors from home and overseas will face some exciting new challenges.

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.

Two families from the British Midlands have a special reason to look forward to Sol Rally Barbados this year. Legendary BMW driver, Worksop & District Motor Club President Martin Stockdale, and fellow Club member Hugh Peat will both joined by offspring who have been travelling and working on the other side of the world to enjoy a family reunion in the island.

From Australasia to North America, rally teams have been making final preparations for Sol Rally Barbados 2016, as shipping dates draw near. New Zealand rallying legend Mike Marshall bade farewell to his Peugeot 106 S16 on Wednesday (April 13), as it left the Port of Auckland on the first leg of its 20,000-mile round trip to the Caribbean.