BARBADOS REPRESENTS AT RALLYE SUNSEEKER

When four-time Barbados Rally Club (BRC) Group Champion Neil Armstrong takes the start in the opening round of the Dulux Trade MSA British Rally Championship (DTBRC) - Rallye Sunseeker International (February 25/26) - he will be representing his Caribbean island home against first-class drivers from eight other nations.

Backed by the Sol Group and the Tourism Development Corporation (TDC), Armstrong and co-driver Max Ferri are entered in a Group N Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX, prepared by MSR Motorsport and fully liveried to promote Sol Rally Barbados 2011 (June 4/5), the Caribbean’s biggest annual motor sport international.

At the first closing date last Friday (February 4), the entry list included the cream of young rallying talent from the British Isles, most with Championship wins already to their credit, plus competitors from Australia, Finland and Estonia.

It is the 29-year-old Bajan driver’s second visit to Sunseeker, based in the British south coast resorts of Bournemouth and Poole: having already made clear his enthusiasm to return – “I can’t wait to have another crack at Sunseeker! Max and I had such a fantastic time in 2009 that, when the opportunity came up to do it again, I jumped at it without thinking twice.” – he has been working hard in recent days, reviewing the in-car footage from his first trip, when he and Ferri finished 17th overall and ninth in Group N.

Strangely, bearing in mind Rallye Sunseeker 2009 was Armstrong’s first rally outside the Caribbean, he may have a slight advantage over many of his competitors this time round, as most will be tackling the tricky south coast stages for the first time. For the past 25 years, Rallye Sunseeker has been the opening round of the UK’s National Rally Championship, and its elevation to the DTBRC is bringing a new group of drivers.

Scotland’s David Bogie, however, is familiar with the tricky south coast stages, having won Group N in 2008, the year he won the Mitsubishi Ralliart Evolution Challenge . . . and he is driving the same Evo IX; Scottish Rally Champion for the past two years, he is a hot tip for victory.

Also a veteran of the Evo Challenge – he won the title in 2010, its final season – is Northern Ireland’s Jonny Greer; he also led the DTBRC all the way to the final last year, when he uncharacteristically crashed - if he can combine his excellent finishing record with the undoubted pace of his new S2000 Skoda Fabia, he will be one to watch.

While 1996 BRC Champion – and last year’s runner-up - Gwyndaf Evans is not yet entered for Rallye Sunseeker, his son Elfyn is; after claiming the 2010 MSA British Junior Rally Championship and the Fiesta SportTrophy, with seven wins from seven events, he then won the BRC Pirelli Star Driver competition, the prize a fully-funded drive in the 2011 DTBRC at the wheel of a Subaru Impreza.

Fans in Barbados will be able to follow Armstrong’s progress by going to www.rallyfm.net, which will broadcast all the weekend action, starting with the Ceremonial Start on Poole Quay on Friday evening.

Procter wins weather-beaten North West Stages by one second

Rally Barbados regular Kevin Procter won the Legend Fires North West Stages, based around the famous British seaside resort of Blackpool, last Saturday (February 5); Procter won 12 stages, 2009 winner Tony Bardy (Nissan Pulsar GTiR) seven – and they shared one, too – the margin of victory just one second in 100 minutes of timed stages.

Procter and regular co-driver Dave Bellerby (Subaru Impreza WRC) fought a rally-long duel with Bardy on a day affected by torrential rain that some competitors compared with conditions on the Safari Rally; both had retired from last year’s event, but gave spectators a real treat this year, one commenting after watching Procter that “he proved you don’t have to be tidy to be fast”.

One of the newcomers among this year’s early on-line entries for Sol Rally Barbados, Connor Corkill from the Isle of Man, finished seventh overall, winning his class, in a Ford Escort MkII, co-driven by Howard Allison.

Sol Rally Barbados (June 4/5, 2011) and Shell V-Power King of the Hill (May 29) are organised by the Barbados Rally Club, which celebrated its 50th Anniversary in 2007; Sol RB2011 is the 22nd running of the Club’s annual International All-Stage Rally and marks the start of a second three-year term of title sponsorship by the Sol Group, the Caribbean’s largest independent oil company.

For further media information: e-mail - robin@bradfax.com

web site: www.rallybarbados.bb