BRC GRAVEL RALLY OPENS TEXACO CHAMPIONSHIP

The opening round of the new-for-2005 Texaco Barbados Rally Club (BRC) Rally Championship is slated for this Sunday, March 6. The BRC Gravel Stage Rally will start from the Vaucluse Raceway in St Thomas at 9.00am.
Entries close tomorrow (Wednesday) at 4.00pm, by which time BRC competition secretary Barry Gale is hopeful of an entry of quality and quantity. He said: "We made an excellent start to the Club's 2005 programme with a very competitive Gravel Sprint at Black Bess two weeks ago, so we are looking forward to building on that."
Sunday's BRC Gravel Stage Rally will be run at two venues, and full details of the route will be revealed to competitors at the Briefing Meeting at the Vaucluse Raceway on Saturday morning. Gale said on Monday: "The stages were not officially confirmed until today, but I can now say that the first stage is close to Vaucluse, the second at Black Bess. We are still finalising the schedule, but we are aiming to alternate the two stages two or three times until lunch, then repeat the alternation in the opposite direction, finishing at VRW around 3.00pm."
The new championship format allows for provisional results to be available at the finish, with official results published on Monday afternoon at The Boatyard, followed by the prize-giving ceremony. The provisional entry list is scheduled to be published on Thursday.
The Texaco BRC Rally Championship is the BRC’s premier competition for 2005; by awarding points for overall success, rather than class position, this new championship will turn the spotlight on those front-running teams with the potential for outright victory and encourage and reward that combination of attack and consistency that is the hallmark of true champions.
It is a compact series, comprising five rounds between March and October, all organised by the BRC. There are three one-day rallies - one gravel, and two on tarmac - plus the two days of Rally Barbados 2005, which will count as separate events.

Texaco Barbados Rally Club Rally Championship - qualifying rounds:
Mar 6 Round 1 – BRC Gravel Stage Rally
Apr 17 Round 2 – BRC Tarmac Stage Rally
May 28/29 Rounds 3 & 4 - Rally Barbados 2005
Oct 16 Round 5 – BRC Tarmac Stage Rally
* drivers will count their scores from all rounds

For further information, robin@bradfax.com