Sting in the tail for unwary competitors
The Barbados Rally
Club (BRC), organiser of Rally Barbados, has again revised the route of
the annual two-day International event in its continuing efforts to
balance retaining the appeal of the Caribbean's premier rally to
overseas competitors with the importance of limiting inconvenience to
the public.
Rally Barbados 2006 (June 3/4) will comprise 24 special stages; one
stage has been cut from each day, allowing an earlier finish on both
evenings, but the event has a sting in the tail for unwary competitor -
the final loop of stages on Sunday is the longest, representing around
one-sixth of the total competition.
Rally chairman Barry Gale said: "As we did last year, we have
looked carefully at each day's route, and the impact the event has on
residents in the area - we have made some more changes to the route to
cut down the time we close the roads for, but we have lost less than
eight per cent of our total stage mileage."
"I hope these are changes that will make Rally Barbados more
enjoyable for all, as we continue to search for improvements that raise
the standard of the event . . . all in an effort to lure our overseas
visitors back every year."
Rally Barbados has again attracted a strong overseas entry, with
current or former National Champions from Britain, Jamaica and Trinidad
hoping to become the first overseas driver to win the BRC's blue riband
event in 10 years; the last overseas winner was Ireland's Kenny
McKinstry, who claimed his second victory here in 1996 in a Ford Escort
RS2000 . . . but he did have some local help, with Sean Gill as his
co-driver!
Six special stage venues will be used this year, three each on
Saturday and Sunday: from the 9.00am Saturday start at Simpson Motors
in Warrens, competitors will head straight for Automotive Art Shell
Canefield, the popular 5.9-kilometre stage, which runs from the bottom
of Hangman's Hill, turning north past the Vaucluse Raceway. The
familiar route is then continued at Blue Waters Sailor Gully, the
4.5-kilometre stage running westbound.
Stage three will be the 2.4-kilometre SB Distribution Turners Hall,
after which crews will head back to Simpson Motors for their first
service halt; these three stages are then repeated in the same order
before second service. The third loop will comprise just two stages,
Turners Hall being missed out, as marshals will be modifying the stage
to run first after lunch at the increased length of 3.7 kilometres.
Sailor Gully and Canefield will be reversed, running east and south
respectively, and follow Turners Hall in the first evening loop; these
two stages will then be repeated, with the first car scheduled to pass
through the last stage of the day at 7.15pm, around 30 minutes earlier
than last year.
The Sunday restart will be at 7.30am from the yard at Carrington
Factory; as on Saturday, there will be one fewer stage than last year,
while the other key change is that the 4.4-kilometre Gatorade Stewarts
Hill stage will run only in the westerly direction. The 3.1-kilometre
Digicel Malvern stage will host the second competitive action of the
day, after which crews will tackle the rally's longest stage, DaCosta
Mannings Auto Centre Kendal (8.1 kilometres, running south).
Spectators who went to Kendal for the BRC's Carnival Warm-up Tarmac
Rally in April will know that some traditional spectator areas on that
stage have been changed and new arrangements are in place for parking -
fans are asked to arrive early and abide by instructions given by
marshals and security staff.
Those three stages will run again before competitors return to
Carrington for the lunch break. After one return to Stewarts Hill and
Malvern, the final service halt will precede the sting in the tail of
Rally Barbados 2006 - the longest loop of the event is the last, with
one pass through Malvern and two through Kendal. At 26.8 kilometres,
this loop represents one-sixth of the total competitive driving, so
could spring a surprise or two.
Rally Barbados 2006 is rounds three and four of the Texaco BRC
Rally Championship; it is organised by the Barbados Rally Club in
association with Armstrong Agencies, Automotive Art Shell, Da Costa
Mannings Autocentre, Digicel, DMS Distributors.com, McEnearney Quality,
Red Bull, Simpson Motors and Texaco West Indies. The event is supported
by The Boatyard, J E Security Systems & Services, Nassco, Office
Solutions & Systems, SBI Distribution and Stoute's Car Rental. The
Red Bull Vaucluse Raceway International RallySprint is organised by the
Vaucluse Raceway Motorsport Club.
Key dates for Barbados Rally Carnival 2006
Saturday, May 20 - scrutineering for local entries, McEnearney Quality, Wildey
Friday, May 26 - scrutineering for overseas entries, McEnearney Quality
Saturday, May 27 - Red Bull International RallySprint,
Vaucluse Raceway, St Thomas
Thursday, June 1 - Rally Barbados 2006 shakedown
Saturday, June 3 - Rally Barbados 2006, day 1
Sunday, June 4 - Rally Barbados 2006, day 2
Monday, June 5 - Rally Barbados 2006 prize-giving, The Boatyard
For further information:
e-mail - robin@bradfax.com
web sites - www.rallybarbados.bb; www.barbadosrallycarnival.com
