Nine stages in the north of the island in Sunday’s (March 29) Barbados Rally Club (BRC) Shakedown Stages will give crews from home and abroad their first big test ahead of BCIC Rally Barbados 2026 (May 29-31). Fifty-one cars will line up for the first closed-road rally of the season.
Seeded at number one in the running order published at last night’s (Thursday) Briefing Meeting at the BCTSA Clubhouse, Searles, Christ Church, is Jamaica’s Kyle Gregg (Ford Fiesta Rally2). Victories in BCIC RB25 and the BRC Winter Rally last October contributed to him winning the 4wd Championship.
He heads a 12-strong FIA R5 entry – the event’s biggest class – which pack the top 10, apart from the Subaru Impreza WRC S12 of two-time Rally Barbados winner Dane Skeete, who will start at three behind Gregg and Josh Read (Fiesta Rally2), as they finished in the Winter Rally. Now armed with a brand-new Fiesta Rally2, Adam Mallalieu will start at four, with five-time winner of the island’s premier event, Jamaica’s Jeff Panton (Fiesta Rally2) at five.
Former Rally Club Champion and BCIC RB24 winner Stuart Maloney (Skoda Fabia RS Rally2) starts at six, competing in the island for the first time since his accident in BCIC RB25, with brother Mark at seven in a newly acquired Fabia RS Rally2. The Fabia Rally2 evos of Britain’s Rob Swann and island veteran Roger Hill plus David Husbands in his unique-to-the-island Volkswagen Polo GTi R5 complete the top 10.
Starting at 11 is two-time Modified 4 Champion Kurt Thompson (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX), whose younger brother Mark has stepped up to the FIA R5 class in the ex-Paul Horton Citroen C3 Rally2. M4 still includes his elder brother Neil, however, along with BimmaCup graduates David-Anthony Balgobin and Savio Walcott – all three in Evo IXs – and British crew Chris Shooter and Bev Le Good (Evo VIII FQ).
A close battle for 2wd honours is on the cards, too. SuperModified 2 front-runners Barry Mayers (Ford Fiesta) and reigning class and 2wd Champion Rhett Watson (BMW M3) are the top seeds, at 12 and 14, but there is quality behind. Next up are Suleman Esuf, increasingly at one with his V8-engined BMW M1, and Logan Watson, fastest 2wd at the Motoring Club Barbados Inc’s (MCBI) Spring Blaze 26 in his Ford Escort MkII, both new combinations since this time last year.
Among other off-season changes in the classes, Ahmed Esuf joins brother ‘Sol’ in SM2, now with V8 power for his BMW M3, Chris Hoad steps up to Modified 3 in the BMW 325 driven last year by Ian Warren and Jermin Pope has moved forward a couple of Honda Civic generations, now equipped with the ex-Geoff Noel car.
There are nine stages at two venues in the north, with the Service Park at the Conrad Hunte Cricket Ground in St Andrew. In the morning, three runs from Lamberts to Pickering (3.50kms) in St Lucy, the first scheduled for 10.20am, will alternate with two from Swanns to Rock Hall (3.10kms), which passes from St Peter into St Andrew.
After the lunch break, with the re-start scheduled for 2.15pm, Rock Hall will run in the same direction twice, but the two Pickering stages will be reversed. Organisers expect the event to finish around 5.30pm, with a Prizegiving to be held within the hour.