Duckworth returns for Rally Barbados

Former UK national rally champion, Roger Duckworth will be hoping that his 10th time will be the charm to lift the Sol Rally Barbados title.
Duckworth, who finished second in Sol Rally Barbados 2019, has confirmed that he will be participating in this year’s event which will run from June 9 to 11 in his Technia Ford Fiesta R5.
Duckworth, who finished fifth in last Sunday’s Alan Healy Memorial Rally at Cadwell Park, has an impressive record in Barbados with seven finishes in the top 10 in his Subaru Impreza WRC S6 – never lower than seventh – and five wins in the former WRC-2 class, with just one retirement with gearbox failure.
Last year, however, when he debuted his Fiesta, he suffered a second DNF [did not finish] when he rolled out of contention on the third run through the Dark Hole stage, when he was lying 10th overall after setting competitive times in the FIA R5 class.
Duckworth acquired the Fiesta last year to ensure he could participate in both the Goodwood Festival of Speed and Sol RB22, as the dates were too close to allow time for shipping his Impreza back to Barbados.
He will have be without his long-term co-driver and friend Mark Broomfield, who has decided to ‘hang up his boots.’ Their successful partnership, dating back 30 years, includes finishing 11th overall and highest-placed amateur crew in the 1997 Network Q RAC Rally in an Impreza 555, winning the Mintex National Rally Championship the following year . . . and their second place finish in Sol RB19.
For next month’s Sol Rally Barbados, Duckworth will have the services of co-driver Stuart Loudon.
In his 15 years as a co-driver, Loudon’s experience includes sitting with Robert Barrable (in WRC2 in a Fiesta R5), Alister McRae and Matthew Wilson and he has twice won the Mull Rally in a Fiesta with John McCrone. He is no stranger to Barbados: he finished fourth in Paul Bourne’s Ford Focus WRC06 in Sol RB14 but retired while leading the BRC Winter Rally in 2017 with Paul Bird (Focus WRC07) when clutch failure ended their rally on the fourth stage.
In a further update of plans for this year’s event, the BRC has confirmed that entry fees have been pegged at the 2022 rates, despite the global economic upheaval of recent months, and that new shipping arrangements will apply when the Geest Line freighter Baltic Klipper sails from Portsmouth on May 7.
Explaining the changes to shipping for this year, rally office manager Jeanne Crawford said: “Shipping both ways by container has two major benefits: first, we will have more flexibility on dates, as we don’t have to select a freighter that carries cars below; second, it will help with the logistics of clearing cars from the Bridgetown Port, as the containers will be delivered direct to Rally Central at Bushy Park and unstuffed under customs supervision on site.
“As everyone is facing increased costs these days, particularly since the pandemic, we have been working hard with our shipping partners at the Geest Line to arrive at the best solution. I’m delighted that we have been able to peg the entry fees at last year’s rate to support our regular visitors.”
(RB/PR)