Austria's Josef Pointinger won Sunday's (June 1) Sunbeach International RallySprint with a fine display of driving in his World Cup Rally replica Ford Escort. He defeated Neil Barnard, whose Opel Corsa limped home 10 seconds adrift, after an engine mount broke during the final, a disappointing end to what had been an excellent day for the local driver.

Bearing in mind only five of the 32 overseas visitors had raced at the venue before, they put on an impressive show - in addition to Pointinger's overall victory, they won eight of the 15 Groups and defeated Barbados 130-120 in the Barbados v Rest of the World team competition.

The first of the two international motor sport events which make up the 2003 Barbados Rally Carnival was played out in excellent weather in front of the largest crowd ever to assemble at the Vaucluse Raceway for a RallySprint. Two qualifying runs had taken place on Saturday, so it was racing all the way from 9.00am Sunday; sixty-five head-to-head races were run during the day - the most ambitious race programme yet staged by the Vaucluse Raceway Motor Sport Club - with remarkably little by way of incident.

Pointinger's day went well from the start: he first defeated England's Graham Samuel (Porsche 911) (right) to win heat one of his Group, then earned his place in the Group-winner's Handicap KnockOut by defeating Finland's Antero Miikkulainen, who was driving his 50th birthday present 1965 Alfa Romeo GTV with great flair.

The Austrian managed to hang on to some of his three-second handicap advantage in his first-round race against Scotland's Graeme Finlayson (Fluke WR1C), then raced against Holland's Wim Wermink (Opel Ascona i2000); Wermink looked set to catch Pointinger, and nearly did so, but for a wild slide on the final turn that saw him off-track and on the grass just yards from the finish line.

In his semi-final, Pointinger faced local hero Trevor 'Electric Micey' Manning in his NP/Sunbeach/Kerridge Simpson Motors Rally Team Mitsubishi Evo 5; Manning was to leave the start pad 20 seconds behind Pointinger - it seemed like an age and, despite 'Micey' recording the fastest time of the day, 2min 11.97sec, it wasn't enough, Pointinger crossing the line barely a length ahead to reach the final and face Barnard.

Barnard's performance in the NP/Sunbeach/Kerridge/Simpson Motors Rally Team Opel Corsa had been superb; he defeated Paul Rees (Opel Corsa) from Wales in his heat, then Scotland's Kenny Hall (Opel Corsa-Suzuki) for Group victory.

His first two handicap victories had come two English drivers, Simon Wallis (Vauxhall Astra), whom he hunted down from a seven-second handicap, then Tom Ryan (Proton Satria), against whom his handicap was 15 seconds. In the semi-finals, Barnard had little work to do, as his opponent Simon Gilmore (Peugeot 205) had barely left the start pad before his front-right wheel fell off, the wheel-studs having pulled out.

On a day of tough competition, with many commendable performances, those that stand out include Matt Fowle (right) from England, who pedalled his Peugeot 106XSi to excellent effect, keeping pace with Sean Gill's Suzuki Ignis for most of the weekend; multiple Dutch champion Frans Verbaas (Opel Astra GTE), who had regular Group winner Greg Cozier worried after qualifying on Saturday; England's Terry Pankhurst, whose Peugeot 206 WRC Replica proved as quick as it is well-turned-out; and Kevin Procter, who set the fastest overseas time of the day - 2min 16.11s, a time beaten only by 'Micey'.

Sunbeach International RallySprint 2003 Results

Key to nationalities AUT - Austria; CAN - Canada; ENG - England; HOL - Holland; IRL - Republic of Ireland; JAM - Jamaica; NIR - Northern Ireland; SCO - Scotland; SVG - St Vincent & The Grenadines; TDAD - Trinidad & Tobago; WAL - Wales

Group winner's Handicap KnockOut
Round 1
Tom Ryan beat Andy Hawkins; Neil Barnard beat Simon Wallis; Sean Gill beat Kirk Watkins; Simon Gillmore beat Greg Cozier; Wim Wermink beat Graeme Finlayson; Josef Pointinger beat John Keatley; Terry Pankhurst beat Barry Gale

Round 2
Barnard beat Ryan; Gillmore beat Gill; Pointinger beat Wermink; Manning beat Pankhurst

Semi-finals
Barnard beat Gillmore; Pointinger beat Manning
FINAL Josef Pointinger beat Neil Barnard

Best time of the day - Trevor Manning 2m 11.97

Best overseas time of the day - Trevor Procter - ENG 2m 16.11

Barbados 120 Rest of the World 130

Group results
Group 1
• 1st Andy Hawkins - ENG (Hist Ashadi RallySport/JP4IT Solutions/Chris Parrett Transport/Harrisons Vehicle Hire/Mark Sayer Austin Mini);
• 2nd Alex Whitehead (P2 Datsun 120Y);
• 3rd Dermot Hassett - IRL (M6 Kerridge del Caribe/Dublin Crystal Opel Corsa)

Group 2
• 1st Tom Ryan - ENG (P2 Proton Satria);
• 2nd Shaun Alleyne (P2 Toyota Starlet);
• 3rd Stephen Moore (P2 Datsun 120Y)

Group 3
• 1st Simon Wallis - ENG (P3 Vauxhall Astra GSi);
• 2nd, Freddie Gale (P3 Gale's Hatcheries Toyota Starlet Turbo);
• 3rd Lindsay Farmer (P3 Phillips Lighting Peugeot 106XSi);
• 4th Tristan Gibbs (P3 Kumho Tyres Datsun 160J)

Group 4
• 1st Neil Barnard (M5 NP/Sunbeach/Kerridge Simpson Motors Rally Team Opel Corsa);
• 2nd Kenny Hall - SCO (M5 Lochcarron of Scotland/Cars Parts 4U Ltd Opel Corsa-Suzuki);
• 3rd Paul Rees - WAL (M5 Red Kite Education/Dynamics IT Vauxhall Nova);
• 4th Roger Marshall (M5 Photo Finish One Hour Photo/Agfa Film Toyota Starlet)

Group 5
• 1st Kirk Watkins (M6 Abacus Construction Toyota Corolla GTi);
• 2nd James Betts (M6 Toyota Corolla);
• 3rd Fred Davidson - ENG (M6 Peugeot 205 GTI);
• 4th Martin Taylor - IRL (M6 Dublin Crystal/Kerry Company/Irish Ferries Proton Satria)

Group 6
• 1st Sean Gill (M6 NP/Sunbeach/Kerridge Simpson Motors Rally Team Suzuki Ignis);
• 2nd Steven Ollivierre - SVG (M6 ECMIL/Empire Cigarettes Mitsubishi Mirage);
• 3rd Matthew Fowle - ENG (M6 Peugeot 106GTI)

Group 7
• 1st Simon Gillmore (M7 SRG Engineering Peugeot 205);
• 2nd Andrew Jones (M7 A P Jones Pharmacy/World of Nature/Stratford Properties Ford Escort MkII);
• 3rd Keith Francis - SVG (M7 Hyundai Excel)

Group 8
• 1st Greg Cozier (M7 Carib/Valvoline Oil Ford Escort RS2000);
• 2nd Geoffrey Ullyett (M7 Ullyett's Machine Shop/Goodyear Tyres/Argent Lubricants/Sikkens);
• 3rd Frans Verbaas - HOL (M7 Verbaas Preparations/de Groot/Texaco/ Biezepol/Brielse Auto Schade Opel Astra GTE);
• 4th Mick Taylor - ENG (M7 Automotive Tools Vauxhall Astra GTE)

Group 9
• 1st Wim Wermink - HOL (MO Rutterkamp Opel Ascona);
• 2nd Adam Alleyne (MO Toyota Starlet);
• 3rd Hugh Peat - ENG (MO Double M Turf Supplies Ford Escort-Vauxhall);
• 4th Walter Aitkin - SCO (MO Aitken-Walker Cars/Putton Mill Ford Escort MkII)

Group 10
• 1st Graeme Finlayson - SCO (MO Red Line Oils/BookaTrack.com/ BuyaTyre.com/Quaife Engineering/Crow Developments Fluke WR1C);
• 2nd Grant Sturkey - ENG (MO Ford Escort MkII);
• 3rd Graham Manning (M0 Ford Escort MkII)

Group 11
• 1st Josef Pointinger - AUT (Hist Excalibur City/Ford Austria Ford Escort MkI);
• 2nd Antero Miikkulainen - FIN (Hist GEE-TEE-VEE Alfa Romeo GTV);
• 3rd Graham Samuel - ENG (Hist Porsche 911);
• 4th Michel Smeets - HOL (Hist Opel Ascona A)

Group 12
• 1st John Keatley - NIR (Hist MCH Shopfitting/Mullaghboy Construction Ltd Ford Escort RS1600);
• 2nd Drexel Gillespie - NIR (Hist Lotus Cortina MkII);
• 3rd Bryan Gill - ENG (Hist John Gill Ltd/Cathedral Cars/Sun Parlour Café Opel Kadett GT/E);
• 4th Wayne Manning (Hist Telling Caribbean Ford Escort)

Group 13
• 1st Barry Gale (P4 NP/Sunbeach/Kerridge Simpson Motors Rally Team Mitsubishi Evo VI);
• 2nd Mikie Hassell (P4 Willie's Marine & Diving/Citgo/Details Car Cleaning Subaru Impreza STI);
• 3rd Harold Morley - ENG (P4 Sunbeach Communications Inc Subaru Impreza STI);
• 4th Tom Preston - ENG (P4 Prestons Group.com/David O'Neill Bodyshop/Red Mammoth Subaru Impreza WRX)

Group 14
• 1st Terry Pankhurst - ENG (GpB Dimma Peugeot 206 WRC);
• 2nd Martin Stockdale - ENG (GpB Plasterland/Drive-a-Matic/Sand Acres BMW M3 GTR);
• 3rd Andrew Hurley - ENG (GpB Earls/Shakespeare/Compomotive Wheels/Kumh/Post Paintworks/ccc Ford Puma Evo)

Group 15
• 1st Trevor Manning (M8 NP/Sunbeach/Kerridge Simpson Motors Rally Team Mitsubishi Evo V);
• 2nd Kevin Procter - ENG (M8 Procters Coaches/P C Vehicle Rentals Ford Sapphire Cosworth);
• 3rd Peter Morris - TDAD (M8 Mitsubishi Evo VI); 4th Willi Polesznig - AUT (M8 Mitsubishi Evo V1)