Panton wins his second Barbados Rally2 title

Jamaica’s Jeff Panton is the 2025 Barbados Rally2 Champion, adding a second title to that of 2023. Despite the best efforts of his fellow-countryman Kyle Gregg with victory in last Sunday’s (October 26) final two rounds, Panton won by a margin of two points, the closest finish in the championship’s four seasons, with Britain’s Rob Swann third.

  Having celebrated victory in BCIC Rally Barbados 2025, Gregg finishes in the top three of the Rally2 standings for the third straight year, while Swann achieves his best finish in the Barbados Motoring Federation (BMF) championship. All drivers are required to nominate a charity to benefit should they finish on the podium, Swann adding the Ocean Acres Animal Sanctuary to the list of those which have received donations since 2022.

  Newcomers this year and the addition of the Martinique Rallye Tour to the calendar have brought the total of points-scorers to 21 from six nations including Barbados, while another 12 from overseas have competed in the FIA R5 class as non-scoring guests.

  Inaugural Champion Stuart Maloney won this year’s first three rounds but has not returned since his accident in round four, the Sunday of BCIC RB25. Reigning Champion Josh Read won that day, then Panton in Martinique and Gregg last weekend.

  A trophy for the highest-placed driver of a car homologated under the original FIA R5 regulations was introduced last year when the Rally2 title was adopted; Champion Josh Read was the first recipient, with Adam Mallalieu set to receive the accolade this year.

  The Barbados Rally Club's (BRC) Winter Rally was scored as a double-header decider for the Rally2 title after the cancellation of September’s Motoring Club Barbados Inc (MCBI) Rally of the Sun & Stars, the scheduled penultimate round. Three runs through the 2.7-kilometre French Village stage alternated with two from Pickering to Luke Hill (4.00kms) for round six, two runs through each in the reverse comprised round seven.

  With local co-driver Kreigg Yearwood, Gregg (Ford Fiesta Rally2) was fastest on the French Village stages, while Read and Mark Jordan won the two longer Pickerings in their similar car. But the margins were small, just fractions of a second, Gregg claiming the round six win by just 4.20secs.

  Doing his best to drive around a persistent launch issue, Swann and Tom Woodburn (Skoda Fabia Rally2 evo) finished third, a further 4.60secs back after swapping times with Panton, co-driven in a third Fiesta by Bajan Jason Cozier. Another with niggling car issues was Adam Mallalieu (Fiesta R5), the youngest of the Rally2 field, joined for the first time by British co-driver Max Freeman; they finished fifth, a little over 1sec ahead of Hill and Graham Gittens in their Fabia Rally2 evo.

  Bajan David Husbands, co-driven in the championship’s only Volkswagen Polo GTI R5 by Trinidadian co-driver Joshua Plaza, finished seventh, 20secs ahead of another Fabia v Fiesta battle between America’s George Sherman with Scott Pinheiro (T&T) and Jamaica’s Tarik Minott with Barbadian Shaquille Walcott; Sherman won by 3secs.

  Gregg won all four stages in the reverse direction to take the final round from Read by 2.5secs, with Panton another 5secs back. Swann led the Skodas home in fourth, with Hill fifth just 3secs behind and a delighted third fastest on the day’s final stage. Husbands, Sherman and Minott completed the finishers after Mallalieu rolled out of contention on the afternoon’s third stage, thankfully with driver and co-driver unharmed.

Barbados Rally2 Championship, round 6 - Results:

1st Kyle Gregg – JAM/Kreigg Yearwood (Ford Fiesta Rally2), 9m 17.13s 2nd Josh Read/Mark Jordan (Ford Fiesta Rally2), + 04.20s 3rd Rob Swann – ENG/Tom Woodburn - ENG (Skoda Fabia Rally2 evo), + 08.80s 4th Jeffrey Panton – JAM/Jason Cozier (Ford Fiesta Rally2), + 14.50s 5th Adam Mallalieu/Max Freeman - ENG (Ford Fiesta Rally2 evo), + 23.16s 6th Roger Hill/Graham Gittens (Skoda Fabia Rally2 evo), + 24.40s 7th David Husbands/Joshua Plaza – T&T (Volkswagen Polo GTI R5), + 24.55s 8th George Sherman - USA/Scott Pinheiro – T&T (Skoda Fabia Rally2 evo), + 49.51s 9th Tarik Minott – JAM/Shaquille Walcott (Ford Fiesta Rally2), + 52.56s

Barbados Rally2 Championship, round 7 - Results:

1st Gregg – JAM/Yearwood, 7m 40.0s; 2nd Read/Jordan, + 04.20s; 3rd Panton – JAM/Cozier, + 08.80s; 4th Swann – ENG/Woodburn - ENG, + 14.50s; 5th Hill/Gittens, + 17.70s; 6th Husbands/Plaza – T&T + 18.40s; 7th Sherman - USA/Pinheiro – T&T, + 35.50s; 8th Minott – JAM/Walcott, + 43.80s. DNF: Mallalieu/Freeman - ENG

Final points after round 7:

1st Panton – JAM, 140 points; 2nd Gregg – JAM, 138pts; 3rd Swann – ENG, 120pts; 4th Read, 101pts; 5th Hill, 71pts; 6th Stuart Maloney, 65pts; 7th Adam Mallalieu, 63pts; 8th Husbands, 56pts; equal 9th Suleman Esuf & Paul Horton - TCI, 52pts; 11th Mark Maloney, 40pts; 12th Minott – JAM, 34pts; 13th Sherman - USA, 27pts; 14th Gregory Buchholzer – MTQ, 24pts; 15th Ben Hartling - CDN, 21pts; 16th Rodrigue Theodore – MTQ, 20pts; 17th Willy Nallamoutou Sancho - MTQ, 19pts; 18th Stan Hartling - CDN, 18pts; 19th Andrew Mallalieu, 10pts

For media information only. No regulatory value.

For further information:

please contact BMF Vice-President – Sport & Barbados Rally2 Championship Manager, David Williams - e-mail: vicepresident@bmf-fia.com web site: https://bmf-fia.com/