Read grateful following second Barbados Rally2 title

Josh Read has thanked his sponsors and supporters after being crowned Barbados Rally2 Champion for a second time.

Read, who previously won the title in 2024, secured this year’s crown in a showdown between former champions during the final round of competition on November 1. 

He finished two seconds behind Stuart Maloney in the event but beat him by 14 points in the championship standings.

“My pace has improved,” Read said. “I’ve gotten quicker and quicker; that’s obviously a good feeling. We quite dramatically changed the suspension settings this year. The minute we made those changes, it made me feel a lot more comfortable pushing the car harder.

“I never really set my sights on winning the championship again. I’ve always taken it one event at a time and just tried to optimise and get the best results in each event I’ve driven. I enjoy being able to compete at the top level. There’s a lot of talent, a lot of experience and a lot of really, really good drivers that push you to the limits,” Read added.

“I must say a big thank you to all of my sponsors and everyone who has contributed to me getting to this point. I’m looking forward to next year. It is good to see the class growing, which will hopefully continue so we have a well-subscribed class of 10-plus cars at each event.”

The Barbados Motoring Federation (BMF) championship’s youngest driver, 22-year-old Adam Mallalieu, finished third overall, edging out two-time champion Jamaica’s Jeff Panton and fellow countryman Kyle Gregg.

Barbados Rally2 Championship final points after round 6:

1st Josh Read (Ford Fiesta Rally2) 128 points

2nd Stuart Maloney (Skoda Fabia RS Rally2) 114

3rd Adam Mallalieu (Fiesta Rally2) 88

4th Jeff Panton – JAM (Fiesta Rally2/Fabia Rally2 evo) 86

5th Kyle Gregg – JAM (Fiesta Rally2) 83

6th Mark Maloney (Fabia RS Rally2) 81

7th Mark Thompson (Citroen C3 Rally2) 76

8th David Husbands (Volkswagen Polo GTI R5) 48

9th Roger Hill (Fabia Rally2 evo/GR Yaris Rally2) 71

10th Wayne Archer (Fiesta R5) 36

11th Tarik Minott – JAM (Fiesta Rally2) 34

12th George Sherman – USA (Fabia Rally2 evo/Fabia RS Rally2) 30

13th Rob Swann – ENG (Fabia Rally2 evo) 26

14th Brian Gill (Fabia Rally2 evo) 16

15th Derek Edwards (Fiesta R5) 5

(KH/PR)