BARL back at Bourbon for Independence Day

An impressive lineup of competitors is due to face the start line this weekend, as the Barbados Auto Racing League Inc (BARL) is hosting its annual Independence ¼ mile Acceleration Test this Saturday, Independence Day, at Bourbon, St Lucy. This will be the club’s third ¼ mile and second Independence event since returning to the Bourbon strip in June of last year.

Club chairman Stefan Hinds expects that Andre Bryan’s fastest time of 11.4336 seconds is likely to go down significantly. Bryan set that time in his two-wheel-drive Toyota Corolla SR at the 2023 Independence event. But a highly-anticipated clash between Steve King in the Percy King Auto Parts Nissan Skyline and Andre Waithe in the DRE Tuned Tuning Mitsubishi Colt should see both dip into the nine-second bracket in their four-wheel-drive machines.

The ongoing battle between the Ford and BMW camps will resume this Saturday. Sammy “The CEO” Cumberbatch is looking to turn the tables in his BMW E35 535 Turbo, having been narrowly beaten by 0.016 seconds by the Kennedy Leacock-owned Ford Escort MK1 Cosworth at their first meeting last June. Piloting the Escort this round will be engine builder and tuner Tommy Field, and the BMW camp is pulling out all stops to come out on top this weekend.

Another eagerly anticipated battle will be between stablemates Andre Droopy Bryan and Kevin Pizza Man Griffith in their Eastside AutoWorks prepared Toyota Corolla SR and Toyota Corolla DX machines, respectively. The pair will also face a strong challenge from the recently crowned Time Attack Champion Tremaine Forde-Catwell in a Datsun 1200 4AGE 20V Turbo.

The top 10 leaderboard stands as follows: 1st Steve King-11.224; 2nd Sammy Cumberbatch-11.24; 3rd Andre Bryan-11.4336; 4th Jerome Holder-11.578; 5th Kevin Griffith-11.917; 6th Tremaine Forde-Catwell-11.945; 7th Alec Doodnauth-12.2332; 8th Shane Bryan-12.25; 9th Brizane Best-12.39; and 10th Kevin Cumberbatch-12.6119.

With the progression in the level of competition since 2023, some drivers will have to fight on their hands to maintain their place in the top 10.

Hinds stated the day will be filled with action, food, and drinks on sale all day and DJ Naldo rocking the turntables. BARL is also partnering with the St Lucy Parish Church’s Bajan Doflicky and Karaoke which will be held in the church car park.

(PR)