Rally

Rally Barbados 2024 organisers are predicting a bumper year for local entries when the 34th edition of the Barbados Rally Club’s (BRC) premier event is staged in two months’ time (May 31-June 2). The island’s new season started on a high note on Sunday (March 24) as fans turned out in their numbers to cheer on more than 40 drivers in the year’s first closed-road event, a record number for a seasonal curtain-raiser in recent years.

Two blistering sub-three-minute runs through the final stages of Sunday’s (March 24) opening round of the 2024 Barbados Rally2 Championship sponsored by CIBC Caribbean sealed a first category win for Jamaica’s Kyle Gregg. In a thrilling start to the season, margins were measured in tenths and hundredths, Gregg beating early leader Rob Swann from the UK by just one second.

Forty-five years after starting his rallying career in a Ford Escort MkI, two-time Scottish Tarmac Champion Robin Hamilton will give his recently completed ‘new’ MkI its toughest test yet in Rally Barbados 2024 (May 31-June 2). He is one of three UK entries confirmed today (Friday) for the event’s Historic classes, alongside fellow returnees Chris Shooter (Escort MkII) and Mick Smith (Sunbeam Imp).

With a new title, new marketing partners and an increase in competitors from home and overseas, the 2024 Barbados Rally2 Championship gets under way this weekend. Season three of the Barbados Motoring Federation’s (BMF) first-ever national motor sport championship also features a revised points system and a new two-day finale, while support for island charities remains a key commitment.

Round 1, Mar 24 – * Spring Blaze Double-Header Sprint (MCBI)
Round 2, Apr 28 - Shakedown Stages (BRC)
Round 3, May 26 – King of the Hill (BRC)
Rounds 4 & 5, May 31–Jun 2 – Rally Barbados 2024 (BRC)
Round 6, Sep 14 – Rally of the Sun & Stars (MCBI)
Round 7, Nov 17 – Winter Rally (BRC)
Rounds 8 & 9, Nov 30/Dec 1 – Special Stage Rally (VRMSC) 

* for Rally2 Championship purposes, times will be calculated cumulatively and results will be scored as a Rally

driver (nat – car) – nominated charity

Former British Trials and Rally Drivers Association (BTRDA) Champion Nik Elsmore will finally tick a rallying ‘bucket list’ item when he competes in Rally Barbados 2024 (May 31-June 2). Elsmore is one of four UK competitors confirmed today, bringing the number of cars entered in the 4wd classes to 16, with more in the pipeline in the coming weeks.

Long-standing British competitors Kevin Procter and Rob Swann, who have logged more than 30 visits to the Barbados Rally Club’s (BRC) premier event between them, will return for Rally Barbados 2024 (May 31-June 2). Also confirmed for his second visit today (March 1) is Joe Cunningham, after the trio experienced mixed fortunes rallying against one another in last Sunday’s East Riding Stages in the north of England.

Jamaica’s Jeff Panton is due to compete in the Barbados Rally Club’s (BRC) premier event for the 20th time this year, three decades after his first visit in 1994. Driving his Skoda Fabia Rally2 evo, the five-time winner is entered in Rally Barbados 2024 (May 31-June 2) leading a three-strong team from his home country, joined in the FIA R5 class by Kyle Gregg, while Horatio Brown moves up to SuperModified 2.

Twenty-five years after his first class win on the island’s premier event, reigning Barbados Rally Club (BRC) 2wd Champion Roger Mayers is gearing up to take the fight to all-comers in Rally Barbados 2024 (May 31-June 2). He finished eighth overall last year in his Toyota WR Starlet, equally splitting the 4wd cars that packed the top 15 but has no intention of returning to all-wheel drive to claim a second outright win.