Mayers claims seventh 2wd title

Twenty-five years after winning his first 2wd title, M&M Racing’s Barry Mayers has claimed the top two-wheel-drive trophy in the island’s premier event for an unrivalled seventh time. 

With co-driver Moishe Steinbok in his Ford Fiesta, Mayers was 11th overall and first in SuperModified 2 in last weekend’s BCIC Rally Barbados.

Already the most successful 2wd driver with six wins since 2001, Mayers extended the gap to his brother Roger, who has won five times, but was absent this year recovering from an ankle injury.

Barry Mayers won 2wd for the third time in his Ford Fiesta, bringing his total to seven

“It’s been a long weekend. The car held together well so we were able to push on Sunday morning and keep ahead of Declan from Ireland. He is quick! 

“It’s a pity that this is the first 2wd win without a top 10 result, but we had a broken rose joint in the final Cherry Grove stage, lost 20 seconds and slipped back from 10th,” Mayers said.

“M&M Racing could not achieve what we have without the support of our sponsors, so my thanks to Chefette, Frosteez, Kooyman, Hankook, BSC Essex Freight, Sign Depot and Milwaukee Tool.”

In a post-event interview, Mayers revealed his intention to take a break from the event, with the Fiesta now for sale. 

“This gruelling event is taking a toll on me and I have found it’s more stress than fun. I want to fall back in love with it, so I’m taking a one or two-year break from it so I’m really happy to be here with this winning result,” Mayers disclosed.

Like brother Roger, Barry is a former Barbados Karting Association (BKA) champion driver and is the current BKA chairman. He is also overseeing the progress of his children, Jacob and Ava, both initially in karting, with 2024 BKA champion driver Jacob soon to enter the BimmaCup.

Mark-Anthony Hinkson (BMW M3) was fastest 2wd at Friday’s Riddara SuperSpecial, when intermittent showers made for inconsistent track conditions at Bushy Park, but lost the lead on Saturday morning to Rhett Watson (BMW M3). 

Ireland’s Declan Gallagher (Starlet) won the day’s opening Padmore stage and would do so again at the end of the day, but seven stage wins put Mayers 15 seconds ahead of Gallagher at the close.

Watson’s challenge had faltered on the two final night-time stages, when he lost two spotlights and distance lighting, to see the gap between Gallagher grow from one to 15 seconds. Things went from bad to worse when a suspension failure on Sunday’s second stage put him out for good. 

A run of seven straight fastest times on Sunday steadily extended Mayer’s advantage to 37 seconds, enough to survive the time lost two stages from home.

(RB)