TEXACO BRC FINALE SWITCHES TO BUSHY PARK

Mindful of current concerns over the level of inconvenience caused to members of the public by road closures, officials of the Barbados Rally Club (BRC) have devised an exciting new format for the deciding round of the Texaco BRC Rally Championship, slated for a 9.00am start on Sunday, October 16.
The event will be staged at the Bushy Park racetrack in St Philip and comprise eight timed runs on a variety of courses; although co-drivers will not be required, the event will be timed in the same way as a rally, with the cumulative times across all eight runs producing the end result.
In recent months, officials from the BRC and the Motoring Club of Barbados Inc (MCBI) have continued to work with the authorities on ways to minimise inconvenience to the general public. BRC competition secretary Barry Gale explained: “We’ve had four meetings with the Ministry to discuss road closures after the Police Force asked for a dialogue on complaints stretching back over the previous two years.
“The Clubs were already working to a set of operational guidelines agreed between the Ministry and the Barbados Motoring Federation (BMF); these have now been modified, for instance to include the training of security personnel to interact with road users at road blocks, without the assistance of uniformed Police Officers. It is important that the road user should have a clear idea of where to detour, as well feeling that he or she has been dealt with politely.
“This training is in the process of being organised, but we took a view that it was unlikely to be completed in time for this event; unable to meet all our revised guidelines, therefore, we did not want to close any roads and then face the scrutiny of the RBPF . . . so the Bushy Park option was devised.”
The unique event will decide the winner of the inaugural Texaco BRC Rally Championship, in which points are scored for overall success; the standings are currently led by Roger Mayers (Trivial Pursuit/McEnearney Quality Ford Focus WRC), with a narrow advantage of four points.
Trevor Manning in the Shell Helix/Courts/Automotive Art/Kerridge/Simpson Motors/Garbage Master Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VIII led the title chase after winning the opening round in February, and retained the lead despite finishing second to Mayers in round two. Victory on both days of Rally Barbados, which counted as separate championship rounds, however, put Mayers ahead.
Roger Hill (Mobil 1/Nassco/Motormac/Michelin Toyota Celica GT4) is currently third in the standings, Jamaica’s John Powell (Intercontinental Shipping/Trinidad Mooring & Launch Services/Toyota Trinidad Toyota Corolla WRC) fourth.
The Bushy Park event promises to be an unique day for fans, too. Gale explained: “Working with our sponsor Texaco, we have some exciting plans for spectator involvement, which will be announced over the coming days, and we anticipate a thrilling event to bring down the curtain on the first year of this new championship.”
Entries opened on Monday (October 3) and will close tomorrow (Friday); in addition to regular BRC competitors, the Club has invited members of the Barbados Auto Racing League and the MCBI to compete.

For further information, robin@bradfax.com