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Sixty local crews have entered Sol Rally Barbados 2023, the highest number for a decade. In addition to the familiar fan favourites at the sharp end of the overall and 2wd battles, two new-build cars will be seen for the first time, while another two return after many years of inactivity, which the organisers see as an indication that rallying is finally recovering from the effects of the coronavirus pandemic.

After a last-minute change of heart just a couple of days before entries closed and rally cars were due to be delivered to Portsmouth in readiness for sailing on the Geest Line freighter Baltic Klipper yesterday (Sunday), Britain’s Nigel Worswick has confirmed he will compete in Sol Rally Barbados this year. He returns with the Ford Escort MkII he first campaigned in the island in 2011, one of three Escorts confirmed for the SuperModified 2 class today, with fellow Brits Graham Haigh and Dick Mauger also returning.

Marking the 20th Anniversary of his first trip to compete in the island, Britain’s Kevin Procter will return for Sol Rally Barbados next month with the Ford Fiesta S2000T in which he has finished fourth three times since 2017. Also confirmed today (May 2) are entries for Texas-based Scotsman Fraser Louden and fellow-Scot Ian Barclay, their Mitsubishi Evos bringing the entries in the four-wheel-drive classes to 20.

The route for Sol Rally Barbados 2023 (June 9-11) will return the Caribbean’s biggest annual motor sport international to its traditional pre-pandemic format, with Saturday’s special stages run at venues in the northern parishes and Sunday’s in the east of the island. A new venue for the previous weekend’s ‘shakedown event’ King of the Hill (June 4) will be announced in the coming weeks by the organising Barbados Rally Club (BRC), which has today (Saturday) also issued a reminder that the entry closing date is just five weeks away.