Cunningham looking forward to Rally Barbados

Fresh from winning First Citizens King of the Hill alongside navigator Kari Bates, British driver Joe Cunningham has acknowledged that repeating his success during BCIC Rally Barbados will be much more challenging.

King of the Hill winners Joe Cunningham and Kari Bates flank First Citizens CEO Claire Jordan, with Area Manager Rodney Mayers (background left). (Photo Credit: BRC/ Nicholas Bhajan)

Cunningham’s comments came moments after it was confirmed that he became the first British driver since Paul Bird in 2014 to achieve the feat. Bates is only the second winning female co-driver after Kirsty Riddick, who sat with Bird in 2012.

“There’s no pressure as I said before. It’s completely different doing the same stage four times to the stages that the locals know, so I’m just going out to enjoy it you know, so really looking forward to it,” Cunningham said.

“It was absolutely not in my expectation to win the event, I was hoping just for a top 10. The stage suited the car really well and we reached a point where we couldn’t go any faster. A new co-driver with me in Kari, but it went well and we are elated with the result.”

As was the case in 2025, Barbadian Dane Skeete finished second in the seeding event for this year’s rally and is happy with that result.

“I would’ve liked to have won but I’m always wary of being first on the road. Looking at how the car performed, once everything works well I don’t see why we shouldn’t be in for the overall fight. I will try to get through SS1 inside Bushy Park and then start the fight on Saturday,” Skeete said.

Fans in their thousands lined the 4.1-kilometre stage from Mapps to Stewarts Hill in St Philip, despite heavy early morning showers, with the heaviest concentration at the end of the 900-metre Thicket straight where the cars finish. 

A major incident early on Sunday saw last year’s Rally Barbados winners Kyle Gregg and Kreigg Yearwood crash heavily at Three Houses and while the pair was uninjured, the car was severely damaged.

Last year’s KotH winners Stuart Maloney and Kristian Yearwood rounded out the top three.

“The result exceeds the expectation coming into the event, as I still don’t think the confidence is back to where it was for such a high-speed stage. 

“It was not the best thing to know of Kyle’s off, but with zero expectations it helped me to focus on just being clean without thinking about a result. My rally starts on Saturday and I am confident enough that I have the pace to fight for the win,” Maloney said.

Suleman Esuf and Asif Suleman took the two wheel drive honours and were also pleased with the performance.

The highest-placed two-wheel-drive trophies were won for the first time by Suleman Esuf and Asif Suleman in their BMW.

 “It was a really good day. My confidence was strong because the car felt good in testing and we knew the pace was there. The result definitely matched our expectations and everything came together well. 

“Being the first 2wd on the road this weekend, the approach is to stay smart, consistent and keep the momentum going,” Esuf said.

While not eligible for overall honours, the Open R/GT class Porsche 992 Rally GT of former FIA Rookie of the Year Zane Maloney and Luke Staffner was one of the star performers of the day, with fans lining the stage trying to get a ‘selfie’ with the spectacular car in the background.

FIRST CITIZENS KING OF THE HILL

Results

Countries (Barbados unless shown): CDN – Canada; ENG – England; IRL – Republic of Ireland; JAM – Jamaica; SCO – Scotland; WAL – Wales

1st Joe Cunningham – ENG/Kari Bates (F) – ENG (WRC Procters Coach & Bus Sales/TS UK/Swift Signs and Shirts/Banks Ford Fiesta WRC), 1m 53.15s

2nd Dane Skeete/Tyler Mayhew (WRC Automotive Art/C O Williams Sand & Lime/Sol Subaru Impreza WRC S12), + 01.06s

3rd Stuart Maloney/Kristian Yearwood (FIA R5 VP Fuels/Bushy Park Barbados/Maloney Racing Skoda Fabia RS Rally2), + 02.27s

4th Rob Swann – ENG/Tom Woodburn – ENG (WRC GO Rent a Car/Cygnet Plant Ltd/Rude Boy Ford Fiesta WRC), + 02.32s

5th Adam Mallalieu/Peredur Davies – WAL (FIA R5 Terra Caribbean Ford Fiesta Rally2), + 02.34s

6th Suleman Esuf/Asif Suleman (SM2 Express Motors/S Y Adam & Son/Meenies Creations/Branded BMW 1M), + 02.98s

7th Jeffrey Panton – JAM/Matt Edwards – WAL (FIA R5 KIG/Sandals Ford Fiesta Rally2), + 03.03s

8th Barry Mayers/Moishe Steinbok (SM2 Kooyman/Chefette/Frosteez/Milwaukee/Hankook/BSC Essex/Sign Depot Ford Fiesta), + 03.25s

9th Josh Read/Mark Jordan (FIA R5 Servall Inc/Stihl/Fig Products/H&B Hardware/Hankook Batteries/Weetabix/Sign Station Ford Fiesta Rally2), + 03.42s

10th Mark Maloney/Justin Maloney (FIA R5 M-Jet FBO/Imagine Developments/Vision Equipment/Bushy Park Barbados/Maloney Racing Skoda Fabia RS Rally2), + 03.63s

(PR/KH)