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Three-time British and National Rally Champion Steve Perez got back behind the wheel of his ex-Marcus Gronholm Kick Energy Drink Ford Focus WRC07 last weekend for the first time in many months to kick-start the preparations for his eighth attack on Sol Rally Barbados (June 1/2), the Caribbean’s biggest annual motor sport international.
With regular co-driver Paul Spooner, Perez finished fourth and WR1 class-winner in Saturday’s (March 2) Malcolm Wilson Rally, second round of the REIS Get Connected BTRDA Rally Championship, which he won in 2010. He was a late entry at the weekend when it became clear that his Lancia Stratos, damaged in an accident on the recent Legend Rally Boucles de Spa in Belgium, could not be repaired in time for Sunday’s Mid-Wales Historic Stages.
Perez has finished fourth in Barbados four times and, interviewed post-event at the weekend, he reflected on achieving the same result in Cumbria: “To finish just six seconds off a podium after not driving the car on gravel since this event last year isn't too shabby, so I'm happy with my performance.
“We only decided to enter at the last minute, and I figured the time in the Focus would set me up well for Sol Rally Barbados later in the year. This has to be the strongest entry on a UK rally in 10 years so the competition was there for sure, and it was good that we were competitive all day, especially towards the end. I'm registered for the BTRDA series so I may decide to do some more rounds."
Perez wasn’t the only Barbados regular in Saturday’s line-up, which also included Sol RB12 winner Paul Bird, partnered in the Fuchs Titan/Rapid Solicitors/MinxFlix/Kick Energy-backed Frank Bird Poultry Focus WRC08 by Carl Williamson, co-driver to Historic class-winner Andrew Siddall in Sol RB11. ‘Birdy’ failed to add a record-equalling fourth Malcolm Wilson victory to his tally, however, finishing runner-up for the second consecutive year.
Despite his 2004 debut in Barbados being less than memorable - he retired early on day one following an accident in his ex-Hannu Mikkola Audi Quattro Sport - Perez is among the most vocal ambassadors for the Barbados Rally Club’s premier event. His four fourth places have come in three different ex-works Focus World Rally Cars: a WRC05 in 2006 and ’07 (also highest-placed European crew), an older WRC03 in Sol RB08, then the ex-Gronholm WRC07 last year.
Perez has been absent only once, in 2010, when he added the BTRDA Championship crown to his previous wins in the 2003 Armajaro British Historic Rally Championship (Porsche 911) and the 2004 ANCRO National Rally Championship (Focus WRC03). In 2011, he returned to his rallying roots by entering his Kick Energy Drink Porsche 911 RSR in Sol Rally Barbados, finishing 17th overall and highest-placed Historic.
Cost-cutting measures introduced as ASRs posted to web site
Cost-cutting measures introduced by the Barbados Rally Club (BRC) for all its events in the 2013 season are reflected in the Sol Rally Barbados 2013 Additional Supplementary Regulations published today. The document is available as a PDF download by clicking on the Competitors tab on the official web site, www.rallybarbados.net [2], and looking under Regulations.
In his introduction to the ASRs, Sol RB Chairman Barry Gale writes: “A lot has been going on over the last four months regarding changes to the Barbados Rally Club’s regulations, including a number of cost-cutting measures which are designed to reduce the impact that ‘unlimited budgets’ have on the level of competitiveness that can be attained by those with lesser budgets.”
The new Restricted Fuels List, already published in BRC Vehicle Regulations 2013-2015, is shorter than before, allowing just three choices: VP Motorsport 109; VP C9 – this relatively new fuel from VP is classed as ‘a direct replacement for UK Super Unleaded, at 100 RON and no oxygenation’; locally-available pump fuel.
In addition, the Club has introduced a tyre limit for each event in 2013 - for Scotiabank King of the Hill and Sol RB13, it will be 16 dry tarmac tyres per car; tyres will be marked and any competitor found running on unmarked tyres will be penalised.
Gale added: “The tyre rule had to be very carefully thought out, so that it was restrictive enough to make sense, yet not so restrictive as to penalise the average competitor, who might want to use a combination of new and used tyres. To most of our overseas competitors, it is no restriction at all, because of the space limitations in shipping cars and spares to Barbados; what the restriction does, if anything, is to bring the locals to the same number of tyres as our overseas guests.”
Sol Rally Barbados (June 1/2) and Scotiabank King of the Hill (May 26) are organised by the Barbados Rally Club, which celebrated its 50th Anniversary in 2007; Sol RB13 is the 24th running of the Club’s annual International All-Stage Rally and marks the sixth year of title sponsorship by the Sol Group, the Caribbean’s largest independent oil company.
For further media information: e-mail - robin@bradfax.com [3]
web sites: www.rallybarbados.net; [4] www.barbadosrallyclub.com [5]
