| Perez Determined on Barbados Return
High-speed crash interrupts Rally Carnival preparations
British businessman and 2004 ANCRO National Rally Champion
Steve Perez suffered an upset to his preparations for the
sixth Barbados Rally Carnival last Friday (May 5) with a 100mph
crash in his ex-works Ford Focus World Rally Car during the
RBS International Manx Rally on the Isle of Man.
Although Perez and co-driver Scott Martin - on his first
event in the car - were both uninjured, the VK Vodka Kick
Focus took a severe beating a mile from the end of stage three,
where a series of bumps caused Perez to lose control; the
car ended up hitting a bank, causing serious damage to the
front end. The onboard telemetry showed the impact happened
at 160kph (100mph), meaning Perez and Martin were lucky to
get away with a shaking.
The news out of England is good for rally fans, however,
as the team is already at work on repairs and intends to have
the car in Barbados in time for International Scrutineering
at McEnearney Quality Inc on Friday, May 26. Tim Ashton, boss
of BTR Preparations, the renowned Yorkshire firm which looks
after the car, reported Monday morning: "We are definitely
still coming, all being well with the 05 car repaired; its
on the jig tomorrow, after which we will know more - I think
the chances are it will still be that car."
While his team set to work assessing the damage, Perez was
looking back on what he describes as "probably the biggest
accident I have ever had. I didn't really do anything wrong
and I don't know what happened, I just lost it over the bumps
and the next thing was there was a big impact which spun us
around.
"I'm glad I had the HANS device on, otherwise who knows
what state my neck would have been in, but a sixth gear accident
doesn't bear thinking about. I'd like to say that Scott was
doing a fantastic job for me and I was really impressed with
his professionalism. There's no wonder he's one of the top
contenders in the British Rally Elite."
Having won the British Historic Rally Championship in a
Porsche 911 in 2003, Perez went on to win the ANCRO National
Rally Championship at his first attempt the following year
in a Focus WRC. The low point of 2004, however, was his brief
visit to the Caribbean, when his ex-Hannu Mikkola Audi Quattro
Sport was damaged early on the first day of Rally Barbados.
Before Friday's accident, Perez was again leading what has
since been renamed the MSA National Gravel Championship, a
series which regularly attracts more than 20 World Rally Cars
per event; after finishing second on Rallye Sunseeker in February,
he went on to place fourth in the Border Counties Stages in
March, moving into the joint lead with reigning Scottish Champion
Barry Johnson, who retired one stage before Perez last Friday
with gearbox problems on his Subaru Impreza WRC. Provisionally,
they now lie joint fifth.
The Perez Focus will be the newest and most sophisticated
ex-works World Rally Car to have made the trip to the Caribbean;
built by M Sport in 2004, the car won in Corsica and Catalunya
that year in the hands of Markko Martin. It was upgraded to
2005 spec for last season, during which Roman Kresta and Henning
Solberg each claimed a pair of top 10 finishes.
For Rally Barbados, as in 2004, Perez will have as co-driver
the experienced former RAC Privateer Champion Neil Dashfield,
who has read the notes on events as far afield as Barbados,
Belgium, the Czech Republic and Yugoslavia.
Local businesses supporting safety marshals
All volunteer marshals working on Rally Barbados 2006 will
be wearing distinctive new T-shirts, thanks to the support
of two local businesses. With the words Motorsport Marshal
emblazoned clearly on front and back in capital letters, the
T-shirts are bright orange, the recognised colour for marshal
apparel in most countries of the world.
The new T-shirts have been sponsored by Ford, through its
local dealer McEnearney Quality Inc, and J E Security Systems
& Services Inc. MQI director Mark Hamilton said: "Ford
has enjoyed a successful involvement in motor sport for many
years, and this is one small way in which the company can
contribute to the running of the Caribbean's biggest motor
sport event."
Brett Barber, Director of Sales of the security firm, added:
"We are very pleased to be able to assist the Barbados
Rally Club by helping to fund the supply of these T-shirts.
The marshals play an important part, not only in the running
of the event, but also in the safety and security of competitors
and the public alike, so it is an ideal fit with our own business."
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