The BRC Shakedown Stages set for Sunday, April 6, has attracted an entry of 60 cars, as crews from home and abroad ramp up their preparations for BCIC Rally Barbados 2025 — May 30 to June. With nine stages in the north of the island, the first closed-road rally of the year will be a valuable test of competitors’ readiness for the island’s premier event.
Seeded at number one in the running order published at last night’s (Thursday) Briefing Meeting at Savvy on the Bay is Dane Skeete in the Subaru Impreza WRC S12, in which he has twice won Rally Barbados. After winning both directions of the Motoring Club Barbados Inc (MCBI) Spring Blaze Double-Header Sprint three weeks ago, he leads the BRC 4wd Championship after two rounds.
Reigning BRC Champion Driver Stuart Maloney starts at two in the Skoda Fabia RS Rally2 he drove to victory in BCIC RB24, ahead of Jamaicans Kyle Gregg (Ford Fiesta Rally2) and Jeff Panton (Fabia Rally2 evo), two of 16 overseas competitors who have arrived on the island. Others include three-time British Rally Champion Matt Edwards, the Welshman returning as co-driver to Paul Horton of the Turks & Caicos Rally Team (Citroen C3 Rally2).
Adam Mallalieu, a front-runner in BCIC RB24 in his Ford Fiesta R5, will start at five, with British co-driver Steve McNulty again on the notes, and Mark Thompson at six, leading a four-car entry in Modified 4 in his Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX. Top 2wd seed is the reigning SuperModified 2 and 2wd Champion Rhett Watson in his mighty BMW M3, who will start at 10.
Newcomers among the 12-strong FIA R5 entry – the event’s largest class – are Jamaica’s Tarik Minott, finally enjoying the regional launch of the Fiesta Rally2 he has rallied in Britain three times, and local former BMW driver David Husbands, who will debut his recently acquired Volkswagen Polo GTI R5.
Overseas visitors also include British crew Chris Shooter and Bev Le Good, who will compete in the island for the first time outside Rally Barbados. Regular historic class winners in their Ford Escort MkII since 2014, they have stepped up to Modified 4 with a Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VIII FQ, the couple’s first four-wheel-drive competition car.
The 2wd classes look set for a hard-fought event, too. Even though Barry and Roger Mayers are both absent, awaiting engines for their Ford Fiesta and Toyota WR Starlet respectively, Watson will still face some challenges. Suleman Esuf debuts his Millington Diamond-engined Ford Escort MkII, Nigel Reece continues to climb his learning curve with the ex-Josh Read Toyota Starlet, while former BRC Champion Driver Ian Warren returns with a BMW formerly owned by Wayne Archer, saying he is looking to “have some fun with something a bit more powerful than the BimmaCup car”.
In other classes, Natya Soodeen has moved from her Clubman 2 BimmaCup to the Modified 1 Peugeot 208 R2 once rallied by Jamaica’s Pierre Beswick, while multiple BimmaCup Champion Ryan Wood now competes in Clubman 3 in a BimmaCup Too.
Junior Champion in the BRC’s 2024 Autocross series, Callum Kirton, is making a temporary switch from rear to front-wheel-drive in a borrowed Toyota Starlet Glanza in Clubman 1. While he finished BCIC RB24 co-driving for Spencer Hutchinson, as a first-time driver this year, he is required to compete in at least one rally ahead of BCIC RB25 and the BimmaCup he will drive then is not yet finished.
There are nine stages at popular venues in St Peter and St Thomas, three loops of Spring Vale (3.20kms), Rock Hall (3.10kms) and Sailor Gully (2.50kms), two before lunch and one after, the first morning run of Spring Vale scheduled to start at 10:45 a.m. and the first after lunch at 3:15 p.m. The Greenland Agricultural Station, St Andrew, is the Service Park for the day.
(PR)