Rally

Members of the Farnborough District Motor Club, based in the southern English county of Hampshire, will compete in Sol Rally Barbados 2016 to honour the memory of a club stalwart. Lifelong motor sport enthusiast Maurice May died last year before fulfilling his own dream of celebrating his 70th birthday by competing in the Caribbean’s biggest annual motor sport International.

The Barbados Rally Club (BRC) is renewing its partnership with the Circuit of Ireland, one of the world’s oldest rallies, which marks its 85th Anniversary this year. In association with the island’s Tourism Development Corporation (TDC), the BRC is again offering two Irish motor sport volunteers a once-in-a-lifetime chance to enjoy the Caribbean’s biggest annual motor sport International, Sol Rally Barbados (June 3-5).

Three crowd-pleasing Ford Escort MkIIs from Ireland have been added to the growing entry list confirmed for Sol Rally Barbados 2016 (June 3 to 5) on the official web site, www.rallybarbados.net. While Enda McCormack will be remembered by the island’s large contingent of rear-wheel-drive fans from his visit to Sol RB13, Damien Hagan and Jim McKenna are new to the event, and are proof positive of the power of ‘word of mouth’.

Britain’s Nigel Worswick is stretching the legs of his Ford Escort WRC on the Live Rally Stage at this weekend’s Race Retro (February 26-28) as a final test in preparation for shipping it across the Atlantic Ocean to compete in Sol Rally Barbados 2016. Europe’s leading show for historic motor sport enthusiasts is staged annually at Stoneleigh Park in Kenilworth, a few miles outside Coventry, formerly one of the main manufacturing centres of the British motor industry.

The Barbados Rally Club (BRC) is approaching the 2016 season in a mood of optimism, with revised Vehicle Regulations about to come into force and members anticipating continued high levels of competition. This was the message from Chairman Mark Hamilton in his annual report at last night’s (Thursday) AGM at the Barbados Clay Target Shooting Association (BCTSA) Clubhouse at Searles, Christ Church.

British driver Andrew Costin-Hurley’s entry for Sol Rally Barbados 2016 marks his 13th visit to the island for an event he describes as “a big and colourful part of our lives”. This year, he is reunited with co-driver Rob Brook, with whom he achieved a personal best in Sol RB14 – 21st overall, plus his third class win – and also returns after a comprehensive rebuild of his unique Ford Puma Evo.