International drivers for Digicel Williams International

A multiple sports car Champion from England and a current front-runner in the 2010 Irish Touring Car Championship are the first two International drivers confirmed by the Barbados Auto Racing League (BARL) for its Digicel Williams International Race Meet at Bushy Park, St Philip, slated for August 28/29.

England's Adrian Beer has been racing in the MG Car Club's BCV8 Championship since he was 17, following a family tradition of involvement with the iconic British sports car; his debut season in 2001 was impressive, finishing second overall in the title chase, Class Champion, highest-placed Novice and highest-placed Young Driver in the Top 10. He has since won the overall championship twice, a class title in each year that he has contested a full season, and holds lap records at five circuits, including the high-speed former airfield circuit of Castle Combe, where the average speed approaches 100mph.

Although he has competed outside England before, in two-driver endurance races at the Belgian Grand Prix circuit at Spa-Francorchamps, the trip to Barbados will be his first campaign outside Europe. While his MGB GT, powered by a 450bhp 4.1-litre Rover V8, may prove something of a handful around the tight confines of Bushy Park, the 26-year-old is looking forward to the challenge: "The thought of taking my car to an unknown circuit outside Europe where only a handful of British drivers have taken their cars fills me with tremendous excitement, however I am not in any way overwhelmed by the prospect."

The weapon of choice for Ireland's Barry Rabbitt could hardly present a greater contrast to the mighty MG, as he will be competing in a Honda CRX entered by the Dublin-based Tuning Factory. Run by two Chinese Honda experts, Andy Mo and Ping Won, this company is the Irish agent for J's Racing, the Japanese firm which built the CRX to showcase its products.

Like Beer, Rabbitt has been racing since 2001, winning the Irish Fiat Uno one-make championship the following year; he subsequently switched to the even more competitive Punto series, winning races, although never had sufficient budget to challenge for the title. Since 2008, he has been the ‘works driver' for the Tuning Factory: he holds the Irish Time Attack lap record at Mondello Park in the CRX, won the 2008 Irish Saloon Series in the company's Integra Type R, and is currently second in the Irish Touring Car Championship with a new Integra.

Of the CRX, which is small, nimble, and produces just 220bhp from a slightly-modified B18 Type-R engine, Rabbit notes: "it has myriad little things that, when added up, make it very fast. It is the most sorted car I have ever driven in terms of handling prowess."

The International interest in this year's Digicel Williams International harks back nearly 40 years to the first visit to Bushy Park by competitors from across the Atlantic, which was also a mixed group of competitors from the British Isles (see page 42). England's Dave Brodie (Chevron B8) and Gordon Spice (Austin A40) were accompanied on that trip by Ireland's Gabriel Konig in a Chevrolet Camaro, more suited to the first half of their Caribbean tour – South Dakota in Guyana, where it could stretch it legs – than to Bushy Park.

BARL Chairman Adrian Mayers noted: "This is an important time for motor racing in the island and the wider Caribbean, as the plans under discussion to upgrade Bushy Park to an internationally-licenced circuit look set to provide a major boost to a sport which has been restricted to regional competition in recent years.

"Our Board of Management decided to act now by inviting some competitors from England and Ireland to start developing new relationships before the circuit redevelopment takes place. These are countries which share our island's passion for motor sport, as witnessed by the many rally drivers who have visited over the last 10 years, but they are also key tourist markets, which is where we wish to position circuit racing in the coming years."

BARL's pre-event build-up continues on Friday (August 13) with the second of three weekly after-work limes opposite H & B Hardware at Warrens, St Michael; cars will be on display from around 4.00pm, refreshments will be on sale, and there will be entertainment.

Digicel Williams International Race Meet timeline

Friday, August 13 – 4:00pm: Meet the Drivers promo, Warrens, St Michael
Friday, August 20 – 4:00pm: Meet the Drivers promo, Warrens, St Michael
Saturday, August 28 – 2:00pm: Qualifying, Bushy Park, St Philip
Sunday, August 29 – 8.00am: Digicel Williams International Race Meet
Monday, August 30 – 7.00pm: Prizegiving