Jamaicans Aim for Third Victory
Strong challenge from former winners Gregg and Panton
Jamaica's two previous winners of the Barbados Rally Club's
(BRC) blue riband event are returning this year for Rally
Barbados . . . which might put a damper on the Club's 50th
Anniversary celebrations. Last year's winner Gary Gregg and
1998 victor Jeffrey Panton are both keen to carry the trophy
north up the island chain for a third time.
Confirmation of their challenge will help sharpen the efforts
of local crews, eager to ensure everything is in place to
keep the trophy at home when Rally Barbados runs off over
the weekend of May 26/27. It is the second event of the seventh
Barbados Rally Carnival, which also looks set to attract a
strong European entry.
Gregg, who spent much of his youth in Barbados and therefore
knows the stages well, has a strong record on the event; in
addition to his victory with co-driver Hugh Hutchinson in
the ex-Carlos Sainz 2001-spec Ford Focus WRC last year - becoming
the first crew to achieve the Rally Barbados-Rally Jamaica
double in the same year - they had finished third in the Focus
in 2005.
The year before, they had a major accident on the uphill
Canefield stage on Saturday morning, destroying the Mitsubishi
Lancer Evo VI in which they had finished fourth in 2003. The
multiple Jamaican champion recovered rapidly from his injuries,
Gregg adapting quickly to his new Ford Focus, an impressive
second-place finish in Rally Jamaica 2004 just five months
later a clear sign of what was to come. He went on to win
his home event in 2005 and 2006.
Panton's record of success in Barbados started earlier than
Gregg's, in the days of the Texaco International All-Stage
Rally - he finished second in a Toyota Celica GT4 in both
1994 (co-driven by Rene McDaniel) and 1996 (with Rudi Meikle
on the notes). When he won in 1998, co-driven by John de Mercado,
he was the spearhead of the most successful invasion in the
event's 17-year history, with five Jamaican crews in the top
10; fourth place in 2000 with de Mercado is his most recent
finish, after he failed to start the SuperSpecial in 2004,
nullifying an overall placing.
For 2007, Panton is entered in his impressive home-built
Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX, in which he has proved blisteringly
fast in his home country; co-driven by Justin Morin, he debuted
the car on Rally Jamaica 2005, when gearbox failure forced
their retirement (but not before an impressive and crowd-pleasing
display at the Digicel New Kingston stages), while the crew
finished sixth last year.
The Barbados Rally Carnival comprises two events: the Red
Bull International RallySprint (May 19) is the third and final
round of the Vaucluse Raceway RallySprint Cup and a round
of the BRC Driver's Championship. It is organised by the Vaucluse
Raceway Motor Sport Club and sponsored by Red Bull.
Rally Barbados (May 26/27) is organised by the Barbados
Rally Club; each day is a separate qualifying round of the
Texaco BRC Rally Championship and the BRC Driver's Championship.
Principal sponsors are Automotive Art, Banks Holdings Ltd,
Dacosta Mannings Auto Centre, Digicel, McEnearney Quality,
Simpson Motors, Texaco and Williams Industries. Associate
sponsors are Armag, the Barbados Hotel & Tourism Association,
Crane & Equipment, Essco, Harris Paints, Nassco and SOL.
Since its creation, the Barbados Rally Carnival has attracted
nearly 160 overseas competitors, followed by more than 4,000
supporters over the years; while the majority of those visitors
have been British, the list of nations represented also includes
Austria, Finland, Holland, New Zealand and Turkey, joining
the regional competition, particularly from Jamaica, St Vincent
and Trinidad & Tobago. Each year, Rally Carnival injects
around Bds $2 million into the island's economy, much of it
in valuable foreign exchange.
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