WITH?THE?Scotia Bank King of the Hill contest done and dusted, it is safe to assume that rally drivers and fans are brimming with excitement over the coming weekend’s Sol Rally Barbados.
One thing is certain, Neil Armstrong has moved from dark horse to a real contender after he narrowly won King Of The Hill in St Lucy on Sunday.
Armstrong is in his first year driving a WRC-specification car and even though he is probably still learning the ropes, he has made it known he will be out to win the Sol Rally.
Paul Bird was second at the King Of The Hill, winning all the runs leading up to the final deciding third run.
Twelve-time Rally Barbados winner Roger “The Sheriff” Skeete stalled in the practice but after he had some clean drives through he came third.
British drivers cemented their excellent showing with Steve Perez finishing fourth and Roger Duckworth fifth.
Perez, who spent most of the year driving a Lancia Stratos, must be wondering when will he break his fourth-place streak.
It was Duckworth’s highest ever finish and serves as a confidence booster for the greater challenge ahead.
The two-wheel drives were the centre of attention once again and epic battles were the order of the day from Group B to Clubman.
In Group B1, Geoffrey Ullyett was the master of speed and slides. This dangerous combination proved to be more than enough as the Ullyett Motorsport team leader headed his class, a feat he would want to replicate this weekend.
Second was Dutchman Frans Verbass in the very intimidating Mini Cooper while newcomer Maurice Moffett, who still has to adjust to the local tarmac, was third in his Starlet after a spin in one of the earlier runs.
The main two-wheel drive battle came from the Super Modifed 10 between drivers Roger Mayers and Barry Mayers, who shared a Starlet; Josh Read in another Starlet; Brett Clarke in the Citroen C2, and Ian Warren in his Suzuki Swift.
It was intense as the drivers swapped times throughout the day and the top three of Roger Mayers, Read and Warren were separated by just a half second. This battle could become even more intense in Sol Rally Barbados.
In the M7 and M6 classes the local hot shots were greatly challenged by tough Irish competition.
In M7, Daryl Clarke admitted to being surprised when he saw the pace of newcomer Tommy Doyle in a FIA-specification Renault Clio R3.
Clarke, in the Honda Civic, was pushed to drive harder than he expected but he ended up on top.
In the M6 class, Neil Corbin in his Toyota Starlet lost his usual first place to Irish new boy Keith Power in a FIA-specification Renault Clio 1600 by .45 seconds.
Dane Skeete had a debut Super Modified class win after he was out for year, while Trevor Mapp topped the Clubman class.