by Trevor ThorpeMotorsport history will be created when German driver Berndt Knuepfer teams up with Barbadian co-driver Jonathan Linton for Sol Rally Barbados on June 4 and 5 this year.
It would be the first time that a German would be contesting the
Caribbean’s biggest annual motor sport international, and that his Team AutoScharf Opel Astra OPC Turbo will be the first turbocharged two-wheel-drive car to run in the new Production 4 category, based on the internationally-recognised FIA Group N4
Fresh from two successful seasons, in which he has finished fourth in 2009, and second last year in the ADMV Rally Championship, Knuepfer, the former National Class Rally Champion’s entry, will bring to 17 the number of countries outside the Caribbean to have been represented in the Barbados Rally Club’s (BRC) premier event over the past decade; and to 12, the number of European competitors confirmed, so far, to make their first trip to Barbados.
The driving connection between Knuepfer and Linton, who is based in Kiel, Germany, was first made with Scharf, when Linton and his brother Adrian bought their own Astra OPC, in which they went on to record three finishes in WRC events; twice in the Wales Rally GB, and once in Rally Finland with the support of Scharf’s technical and crew.
“I see this as an opportunity to stir up interest in Sol Rally Barbados, and the island; rallying is very popular in mainland Europe, and we hope this first entry from Germany will not be the last”, Linton said of the trip to Barbados.
Backed by Auto Dienst, Barth Bau, Stahl Seltmann and Sachs in its home events, the Astra; until recently the only turbocharged 2wd car homologated for N4; will also be supported by Ravensden, regular sponsor of Team KickAstra, the Linton family outfit.
Knuepfer, who has scored many class wins in German rallies and was the German N3 Champion in 2004, began his motorsport career 25 years ago in motoCross competition in which he remained a regular competitor until 1994 when he drove his first rally in a Trabant.
The following year, he switched to a Peugeot 205GTi, before joining Tobias Scharf and his team in 2001 and has rallied exclusively in Opel Astras.
Sol RB2011 is the 22nd running of the Club’s annual International All-Stage Rally and marks the start of a second three-year term of title sponsorship by the Sol Group, the Caribbean’s largest independent oil company.