Co-driver changes should have little effect on the outcome of the ScotiaBank King Of The Hill on Sunday.
And as competitors head to Simpson Motors in Warrens, St Michael, for the 1 p.m. start of scrutineering tomorrow, the entry list shows a number of changes for the event.
England’s Kevin Proctor will have former single-seater racing driver Philip Hopkins, who is relatively new to rallying, in the co-driver’s seat for King Of The Hill only, while Martin Stockdale will have his daughter Laura-Jo in the co-driver’s seat.
Barbadian Owen Cumberbatch will have Jan-Yves Hinds as co-driver in his BMW M3 after Shareef Walcott, with whom Hinds was originally entered, withdrew his Corolla. Another Barbadian, Dwayne Forde, will replace Arlington Hoyte as co-driver for Fabien Clarke in his Suzuki Ignis Sport.
All the foreign cars have cleared the Bridgetown Port after arriving onboard the Geest Line freighter Agulhas Stream and were delivered to Rally Central, the secure workshop facility for overseas crews.
They were joined by the Ford Focus rally cars of Trinidad’s John “Penti” Powell and Britain’s Paul Bird which arrived on Virgin Atlantic Airways. Bird is aiming for a hat-trick of victories in the event.
Sol Rally Barbados office manager Jeanne Crawford had high praise for Barbados Port Inc., the Barbados Customs & Excise Department and Seafreight Agencies for assisting with the offloading, clearance and delivery of the cars in one day and the officials at the Grantley Adams International Airport who facilitated the rapid clearance of two cars.
“It is good to know that so many people in the island understand the importance of Sol Rally Barbados in the whole sports-tourism mix,” she said.
She also thanked Rally Club members Dave Crawford, Sean Field, Graham Gittens and Jeremy Gonsalves for helping to manoeuvre cars around the Port and the wrecker drivers for their timely trips back and forth to Rally Central.
More than 80 cars are down to face the starter for the event from Hangman’s Hill to Lion Castle, St Thomas, starting at 10 a.m.